My Alchemical Romance
by AbnormalAlley
Summary: Originally posted on Quizilla years ago REWRITTEN. Kind of RP. Alison Rigby is an average girl who wakes up in a strange new world. No way home, no idea how she got there, and finds herself in the company of the Elric brothers. Rated M for later chapters
1. The Twilight Zone

Today had been one of those days that seemed to just drag on and on. You had woken up with a headache and by the end of the school day it was a full blown migraine. You drove up into the drive way in front of your home. With a tired sigh you put your car into park. Pulling your back pack out of the passenger seat you exited the car with a grunt.

"Why do I have to carry so much shit around with me all the time?" You asked yourself as you walked towards the garage door. You walk into the garage, shutting the door behind you and pulled your keys out to unlock the door that led into the house. As you were putting the key into the lock, you experienced a sharp pain in your head. You fell to your knees on the door step and grabbed your head, trying to cease the pain and the high pitched ringing in your head. You felt your head spinning and you opened your eyes to see everything fading to black as the skin on your back began to burn.

_Someone's arms were around you. You see the color of gold around you. Hair maybe? You couldn't tell for sure._

_ "I'll never let them hurt you. I promise." A young man whispered in your ear._

_ "Let who hurt me?" You heard yourself ask. You got no response before the gold disappeared, leaving you alone again._

You open your eyes and as things come into focus you realize you aren't sure where you are or why you're there. The last thing you remembered was the garage.

_I guess I passed out. But this is too bright to be the garage. Did mom or dad come home to find me in the garage?_

With a little bit of effort you sat up and looked at your surroundings. You were beginning to get a little freaked out at this point. This room wasn't any of the rooms in your house. In fact, the two beds and jointed bathroom made it seem more like a hotel room. You looked down at yourself and found your weren't restrained and all your clothing was still on, so that was a good sign.

"Fuck." You cursed under your breath and stumbled out of the bed. You weren't sure what was going on or how you got there but you weren't intending to stick around to find out. What if someone had tried to break in to your house, found you in the garage and just took you instead? As you headed towards the door you noticed your back pack next to the wall. You quickly dug through it until you found a can of pepper spray you carried around with you sometimes if you had to go somewhere by yourself at night. You put your bag on your back and suddenly the burning sensation was back. The pain made your knees buckle and your fell to your knees on the floor. With as much effort as you could summon, you managed to pick yourself back up again. You hadn't taken two steps towards the door before it swung open revealing a large suit of armor. You froze in fear; the back pack fell from your shoulders and hit the floor with a loud 'thud', and bringing your senses back.

"Shit!" You yelled and tried to step back only to trip over your bag.

"Are you alright?" A young voice came from the armor; far too young of a voice to be coming from such a large suit of armor. You scrambled back against the wall and held out the spray.

"Get back!" You demanded.

"Please calm down. I'm not gonna hurt you. I swear." The armor said as it stepped closer. You didn't hesitate to spray the pepper spray at its eyes. You looked up at it in fear when it didn't seem to affect him any. You scrambled to your feet and darted around him and out the open door. You ran through the hall and past two other people but you didn't even notice them until one of them grabbed you by your arm.

"Let go!" You screamed, turning around to spray who ever had grabbed you. Before you could even push down on the spray, it was knocked out of your hand and hit the wall before rolling out of reach. "Let me go!" You cried out, trying to free your arm from a vice-like grip.

"Calm down!" A male voice ordered. You looked up at your captor to lock eyes with a young man with golden eyes that looked quite irritated at this point. He had long blonde hair pulled back into a braid and wore black clothing with a red trench coat.

"Please let me go." You pleaded while fighting back tears. You rarely cried but you were afraid for your life and well-being. You didn't know where you were, how you'd gotten there, or who these people were. You then took the time to notice the other person in the hall. Behind the blonde with the vice grip was a girl who looked to be about sixteen or so, the same age as you, with light blonde hair and blue eyes. Her eyes looked concerned for you and you looked at her with pleading eyes.

"We aren't going to hurt you. We just want to know if you're okay." The blonde guy told you with frustration.

"I'm fine, now please let me go. I want to go home." You told him.

"Not many people who are found unconscious in the woods are 'fine.'" He shot back. You suddenly quit trying to pull away and stared at him in shock.

"What? No, I was in my garage when I passed out." You told him.

"Well I found you in the woods." He replied. His expression softened slightly when he noticed you started to shake.

"Wh-where am I?" You asked with a shaky voice.

"You're in a hotel in the town of Frondt." He replied.

"Where the hell is that?" You nearly shouted. That wasn't a town anywhere near where you lived, that was for sure.

"It's in the eastern part of Amestris." He said with a frown.

"Where the hell is Amestris?" This information wasn't really giving you an idea of where you were.

"The country we're in." He looked at you like you were crazy. Amestris was one of the strongest countries in the world. How could you not know where it was?

"…I need to sit down." You said quietly.

"Come back to the room and you can rest in there. You seem very confused." The blonde girl finally spoke up, moving next to you and putting a supporting arm around you before walking you back to the room you had previously fled from.

You sat on one of the beds in the room and just stared at the floor with wide eyes. They all watched you, waiting for some kind of response. You moved your hand in front of your face and watched it. Your vision didn't seem really distorted so that ruled out the cafeteria ladies snapping and drugging the lunch food. You pinched your arms and felt the pain. That ruled out dreaming. Okay, so if you were by some chance in another world or something, what did it look like? You got up and moved to the window. Raising the blinds you looked up at the sky. Blue sky, white clouds, green plants; you looked down and….people for some reason still riding around in horse drawn carriages and really old cars. Was this some Amish village? No, Amish people don't drive cars or use electricity or a lot of the stuff you were seeing out the window.

"What year is it?" You asked hesitantly.

"1915." The blonde girl answered. You felt your head begin to spin again and tried to grab the wall.

"This isn't happening." You said softly at first. "This _can't_ be happening!" Panic began to rise in your voice. They didn't even have time to ask you what it was that couldn't be happening before you bolted out the door. You heard them call your name and in the back of your mind you wondered, _How the _hell _do they know my name?_ But you ignored the thought and you ignored their calls. You found yourself downstairs in the hotel lobby. You ran out the front door, getting strange looks from the other people in the room. You stopped to look at the people on the streets. The streets weren't hard tar and asphalt like any of the roads in your town or even the really small towns of a population of fifty people. People were driving really old cars that looked like they were from the early 1900's and a few were still even riding around in horse drawn carriages, and a majority of the people were walking and enjoying the road side vendors. But no one was wearing black penguin suits, top hats, bonnets, and dresses. In fact, the clothing seemed just a little more modern. Not much, people still weren't walking around in jeans and t-shirts. But they didn't look like they just walked out of a photo from 1915. You took off across the road and ran towards an open field where you saw a wooded area in the distance. The only logic going through your head at the moment was that the people here are crazy and if you ran far enough maybe you'd reach society. You made it to the woods and pulled out your cell phone. You dialed your mom's cell phone but only got an annoying beeping noise in response. You looked at your phone to find that you didn't have any service at all. You cursed and kept running in a different direction, checking your phone every so often hoping to get a signal. You weren't sure how long you'd been running around until you stopped in a clearing in the woods and fell to your knees.

"This can't be happening." You said while fighting back tears. You had even gone back to the town and didn't get any service. After sitting still for awhile you began to realize how cold it was outside and wondered where the hell your hoodie was. You sat back and brought your knees to your chest. You wrapped your arms around yourself and tried to distract yourself from the cold by trying to think of what to do next. You heard the crunching of dead leaves under someone's feet and turned to see the blonde boy from before.

"We've been looking everywhere for you. If you're gonna leave at least get your stuff and maybe thank us for saving you." He said while dropping your back pack in front of you and handing you your hoodie. You took the hoodie and quickly put it on.

"Saving me from what?" You asked quietly while staring at the ground.

"Probably from freezing to death. I found you out here in the woods. Actually…" He looked around a bit. "I think this was the exact spot. Anyways, we just wanted to make sure you were okay before you left. And you left your stuff behind." You buried your face in your knees and bit down hard on your knuckle. "Why are you crying?" He asked with concern and knelt down next to you.

"I don't know where I am!" You managed to say through ragged breaths. "I pass out in my garage from a migraine and apparently show up in the woods and wake up in a hotel room around a bunch of strangers, one that's in a fucking suit of armor and pepper spray doesn't work." You cried. "There's no country called Amestris where I'm from! And it's not 1915 either!"

"Alright, Alison, you need to calm down." He tried to soothe you.

"And how the hell do you people know my name!" You shouted.

"Calm down. We went through your bag to look for some form of I.D. It had your name and picture on it, so unless the I.D. is fake, we assumed Alison Rigby was your real name." He explained. "Now," he began. "You can either come back to the hotel with me and we'll help you figure out what's really going on here, or I can leave you here and you can go off and do whatever. It's up to you." He spoke to you kindly. You were quiet for a few moments before nodding your head and stand up on shaky legs.

"I need to change shirts when we get back. Mine kind of got caught on something and tore." You said with a shy smile. You took your hoodie off to show the huge tear in your shirt that went so far it showed your bra line. He looked at it strangely and you began to feel self-conscious. You honestly had a very beautiful body; a flat stomach, a curve figure, beautiful legs and full breasts. But like any other teenage girl, you always felt self-conscious about your body. "What is it?" You asked.

"Why do you have this tattoo on your back? Do you know what these symbols stand for?" He seemed very intrigued and he got closer to your back. You jumped away, a blush full on your cheeks. Then it hit you what he had said.

"Wait…what tattoo? I don't have any tattoos!"

When you returned to the hotel you noticed the blonde girl and the guy in the armor were still gone. You went to the bathroom and pulled your shirt off. You covered your chest with the shirt and moved your long brown hair out of the way to look at your back. And sure enough there was a tattoo of these odd but beautiful symbols on your back. It looked like it had been there for years; it wasn't red and peeling. It didn't look fresh at all. But you knew you didn't have it when you woke up for school this morning. The blonde guy who had apparently saved you came in the bathroom; you had left the door open, and took notice of your shocked expression.

"So you didn't know that was there?" He asked.

"It sure as hell wasn't this morning!" You told him. You sighed and gave the young man a look. He seemed confused for a moment before blushing and turning around. You quickly put a new shirt on and put your hand on your face. "God dammit… If my mom sees this she's gonna kill me." You muttered. The young man turned back around and gave you a sympathetic look. You ran your hand down your face and to your neck and let out another sigh. You then remembered you'd yet to find out this guy's name. "I'm sorry," You said with a kind and soft smile. "I don't think I know the name of the guy who rescued me." Maybe you were crazy, but it looked like his face turned red just a little bit. Was he blushing?

"Edward. Edward Elric." He replied.

"Hi, Edward. Mind if I call you Ed?" You asked.

"Just as long as you don't call me short." He said with a grin. You genuinely laughed when he said that.

"Well, you seem to be just a bit taller than me, so I don't think that'll be a problem." You said as you came to stand right next to him and compare height.

"Can I call you Alley?" He asked almost hesitantly. He really did seem to be blushing now. You smiled at him.

"Of course." He seemed to just stare at you for a few moments before he realized he was.

"Um….do you have any clue what those symbols on your back means?" He asked, quickly changing the subject.

"No, I don't." You said while shaking your head. "Do you?"

"They're symbols for alchemy." He told you.

"Alchemy? That doesn't…where I'm from it doesn't exist. I mean, they tried it back in the medieval days but it never evolved into anything." You told him.

"Really? Here they even have a specific military branch of alchemist. They call them State Alchemists. I'm one of them." He explained; his chest swelled a bit with pride when he announced he was part of this military branch.

"Show me." You said.

"What?"

"Show me how you perform alchemy." You repeated.

"O-Okay." He said. You followed him into the bedroom where he got out a piece of paper, a pencil, and looked around. He found a large screw on the coffee table. He drew a circle with some symbols on it on the paper, and then put the screw in the middle. "You have to go by the law of Equivalent Exchange. It has to have the same chemical make-up, and the same amount. I can't turn this into anything larger or smaller." He explained. He put his hands on the circle and a blue light began to shine from it. You looked in awe as blue lighting crackled around the paper, engulfing the screw. When the light disappeared, the screw had taken on a different form. You picked it up and noticed it was really warm between your fingers. The screw had taken on the shape of a metal heart about the size of a half dollar. The heart had little ornate designs on it as well.

"It's beautiful." You said in awe. "That's amazing! Alchemy doesn't work like that where I'm from!" You ran your fingers along the metal before handing it back to him.

"Keep it." He said.

"Really?"

"Yeah." He said with a smile. You felt your heartbeat speed up when he smiled. You felt butterflies in your stomach and bit your lip as you smiled.

"Um…about the tattoo on your back…" He started in again. "The symbols…are very important." He stopped and looked down at the floor like he was looking for the right words. He finally looked back up at you. "Do you know what the philosopher's stone is?" He asked.

"I've heard of it. I've heard it can bypass the laws of equivalent exchange. Back in the medieval ages alchemists searched for it or tried to create their own. They wanted it to turn copper into gold or something like that or even to be able to create human life or gain immortality." He nodded.

"My brother, the one in the suit of armor, and I have been looking for the Philosopher's stone to… to fix a mistake we made a long time ago. The tattoo on your back is the array needed to create a philosopher's stone." He watched you for your response.

"Oh…" was all you said at first. "Does this mistake have something to do with why he's in armor?" You asked. He nodded. "Was he…. Horribly disfigured or something?"

"….Not exactly. That would have probably been a preferred result than what really did happen." He said softly. He looked down at the floor and his face took on a sad look. He looked almost guilty even.

"If you don't mind me asking, what did happen?" You asked. He was quiet for a few moments that seemed to stretch out forever.

"You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Well… I'm somehow in a crazy alternate universe about 90 years in the past. Not sure how much more unbelievable things can get." You said with a hint of a smile. He was quiet for a few more moments.

"When my brother Alphonse and I were young, our mother died from an illness. Our father walked out on us when we were toddlers so we had no one was left except our friend Winry, the girl that's with us, and her grandmother, Pinako. Pinako helped take care of us. Then we came across a very skilled alchemist name Izumi and her husband Sig Curtis. After a lot of pleading she agreed to take us on as students. We studied under her for awhile, training both our minds and body. After we returned home we…" He paused for a moment. It seemed like he was trying to find the strength to say what he wanted to say next. "We tried to use alchemy to bring our mother from the dead. It… backfired horribly. I lost my left leg. And I sacrificed my right arm for Al's soul."

"His…soul?"

"Al… doesn't have a body anymore. I was able to bind his soul to that suit of armor. That armor and his soul is all that's there." He said regretfully.

"How is that possible?"

"It's a very difficult transmutation done through alchemy. We tried to play God, and we were punished horribly for it. Now we're trying to find the Philosopher's Stone to restore our bodies."

"If you lost your arm and leg…then how…" You trailed off somewhat gesturing at his limbs.

"It's automail." He told you.

"Automail? What's that?"

"Artificial metal limbs." He explained while pulling up his right sleeve to show you. "They attach the nerves to the prosthetic so that one can move and control it like a regular limb." He moved his fingers and wrist to demonstrate "My left leg is the same way. Winry and her grandmother do this stuff for a living. After the failed transmutation, Colonel Roy Mustang, my commanding officer, came to Winry's and offered to help me become a State Alchemist. He said he could provide me with information about the Stone that could aid us in our mission to restore our bodies. At the age of 12, I became the youngest State Alchemist in Amestrian history. And that's pretty much our story in a nut shell." He ended softly. A silence stretched out between the two of you. You felt the need to say something, but what could you say?

"I'm…I'm sorry. The things you guys have been through sounds… dreadful. I admire you both for having gone through so much and having continued to keep moving. I'm… not really sure of what else to say…" You said, feeling a tad awkward. He gave you a small smile.

"It's okay. There's nothing much really to say about it. You seem to take it better than most people when they find out. We honestly try our best to keep it a secret. Very few people know what really happened. If the higher ups in the military knew, I'd be thrown in prison for practicing forbidden alchemy, and they would probably run experiments on Al and lock him up in a lab."

"Well, though we barely know each other, thank you for sharing this with me. And I promise your secret is safe with me." You gave him a gentle smile that he returned.

The door suddenly flew open startling you both. In the doorway stood the blonde girl from earlier and the guy in the armor.

"Oh, thank goodness you're here." The girl said with a relieved sigh. "We searched all over for you and couldn't find you. We were worried about you." She smiled and walked over to you, extending her hand. "Maybe you'll be more at ease if you know us better. I'm Winry Rockbell." You stood up and shook her hand.

"Alison Rigby." You replied. The suit of armor tentatively walked over to you and Winry, moving slowly as to not scare you.

"I'm Alphonse Elric." He extended his hand cautiously. You smiled and shook his hand. Your smile and friendliness seemed to put him at ease. "I guess you've already met brother."

"Yes, I have. I'm… sorry for worrying all of you and kind of freaking out and running off. I'm kind of… out of sorts here. As I'm sure you've figured out, I'm not from around here and have no idea how I got here." You said awkwardly while rubbing your arm.

"Where _are_ you from?" Winry asked.

"Heh, I don't think you'd believe me if I told you." You said with an awkward laugh.

"Try us." The three said in unison.

"Um… ok. Well… from what I've come to believe during my short time here is I'm not from anywhere near here. I actually feel dumb saying this, but I don't think I'm even in my own world. This place is very different from mine. I'm from another year, another country. Where I'm from alchemy doesn't work the same way it does here. There is no country called Amestris. I promise you, there isn't. I'm from a country called the United States of America. It's one of the strongest countries where I'm from. It's one of the World Powers. I'm from a small state in the southern region. I mean, I can try and prove it. My world has more advances in technology, and my identifications say where I'm from. I know it's just words on plastic, but it's legit." You reached in your pocket and pulled out your cell phone. "This is a cellular phone. We use these to make phone calls from pretty much anywhere without needing a cord or phone line or anything. Just cell towers and satellites in space. Since I'm… not home… I can't make a phone call but…" You pushed a few buttons and brought up some pictures. "I can show you pictures and stuff I guess…" You held the phone out to them to show them the pictures on your phone. "I mean… I don't really know what else I can say or do to prove I'm not insane. Hell, for all I know I'm in a coma or I was kidnapped and now I'm really locked up in someone's basement loaded up on drugs to keep me sedated and this is all just a really realistic dream or hallucination…" You said with a nervous and somewhat sad laugh. "I… I need to sit down." You said and sat down on the nearest bed and held your head in your hands. "What am I supposed to do?" You muttered, mostly to yourself.

"It'll be okay." Winry said as she sat down next to you on the bed. "Crazy or not, you'll be fine." She said playfully. "How about you and I go out and I'll kind of show you around this little town and show what it's like here? Maybe get your mind of things." She suggested. You smiled weakly and nodded. You really didn't feel like going anywhere but what choice did you really have? Sitting in a hotel room and sulking? Kind of puts a downer on things. Might as well make the best of things.

You and Winry walked around town for a bit, getting to know each other, and you learned a little more about where you were and in turn you told her more about where you were from. She became as excited as a school girl after having talked to her crush for the first time when she found out your world was more mechanically developed than this one. You learned very quickly that Winry was a bit of a grease junkie.

"My father and brother work on cars. Well, my brother does for a living. My dad used to and did for most of his life. Even when he was little. But now he's moved up to a manager's position at his work. But he still works on cars. He fixed my car. And he and my brother bought an old muscle car and fixed it up for my brother's first car."

"So you have a brother? Is he older or younger?" Winry asked.

"Older by about 3 years. He's the only sibling I have."

"I bet you guys are close then. Ed and Al are the closest things to siblings I have and they never tell me anything. They keep me in the dark. I don't even know that they're in trouble until Ed breaks something." Winry pouted. You just looked at her and began to laugh. "What's so funny?" She demanded.

"I'm sorry. It's just… I think that's how most brothers are. Especially with sisters. My brother and I aren't very close at all. We're polar opposites. And he never tells me a damn thing. I have a few guy friends that I'm close enough to that I could consider them brothers and I'm much closer to them than I am my actual blood brother." You explained. "My brother and I, we're so different but exactly the same. We have different interests. He's more of a country boy. He's into cars and dirt and stuff like that. I've always been more into books and computers and art. I mean, I can get my hands dirty and I don't mind it at all. But we're just different in interests. But we act a lot alike. We both have a temper, we tend to yell at each other when we get mad, we're both irritable around each other…we can barely stand to be around each other for more than an hour. When we were little the only times we got along were when we were getting in trouble." You said with a small smile.

"It's getting late. Let's head back." Winry suggested after a short silence. You agreed and followed her back to the hotel.

When the two of you arrived back at the hotel, Edward and Alphonse seemed like they'd been having an intense discussion.

"Did we interrupt something?" Winry asked.

"No, not at all. Brother and I were just discussing some things." Alphonse replied.

"Alison, we'd like to talk to you about something." Edward said. Suddenly you felt very nervous and you weren't sure why. You nodded and sat down across from the boys and waited for them to continue. "The markings on your back… I've already told you their significance." He stated, you just nodded. "I've told you that the significance of those markings are important to what Al and I are searching for. You obviously have some kind of connection to that. You don't seem to know what that connection is, and neither do we. But we're hoping to find out. Alphonse and I live a dangerous life. With me being in the military, we're constantly on the move and sometimes we're put in dangerous situations. You have no place to go and you're somehow connected to the Stone. I guess what I'm trying to get at is, if you're willing to, we would like it if you travelled with us, and maybe during that time we'll find out more about how you're connected to the Stone, and get closer to restoring our bodies, and you'll find a way to return home. What do you think?" He finished and looked at you with piercing amber eyes.

"Well…I guess I don't have much of a choice. And I would like to hopefully find a way home." You replied. "I guess I could find some ruby slippers and tap my heels together three times…" You looked up and noticed the strange look they gave at that remark and suddenly remembered they wouldn't get that reference.

"Well it's settled then." Edward said as he stood up. "We'll head back to Central in the morning and talk to the Colonel about you travelling with us. In the meantime, let's get some sleep." Edward suggested and turned towards Winry. "Winry, I hope you don't mind if Alley uses the spare bed in your room."

"Not at all!" She said cheerfully. The boys noticed she seemed a little too cheerful to have another girl to be around. Alphonse seemed to be the only one who noticed Edward referred to their new companion as "Alley" instead of her full name. On the inside of the large suit of armor, Alphonse grinned.


	2. The Interrogation

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. If I did, I wouldn't be writing a fan fiction about them, now would I?

A/N: I changed the beginning dialogue with Edward, Alley, and Mustang just a bit. A little more humorous.

You walked along side Edward and Alphonse toward Colonel Mustang's office, who you had found out was Edward's commanding officer. Edward affectionately referred to this man as "Colonel Bastard." The reason you were being brought along on this trip was because Edward had to have approval from the Colonel before you travel with him and Alphonse. You arrived in front of large oak double doors. Edward opened the doors and you followed in behind him. In this room was a number of desks with stacks of folders and papers on top of them. Four men were sitting at the desks and just talking. When the Elrics walked in they were greeted with friendly faces. Eyes soon fell on you and you continued to stay close to the brothers, suddenly feeling awkward. Edward came to another door and knocked on it. From behind the door you heard a man give permission to enter. Ed turned to you and Alphonse and told the two of you to stay there while he went in alone. So there you were, stuck with one of the two men you barely knew, and in the room with four other people who you didn't know and were all staring at you curiously.

"So um… Al" A man with a short blonde hair and a cigarette hanging from his mouth approached Al. "Who's the girl?" He asked while gesturing in your direction.

"Oh… Um, she's a friend of ours." Was Al's response.

"Jean Havoc." The man said as he extended a hand to you.

"Alison Rigby." You spoke quietly as you shook his hand and offered a shy smile. The young man smiled back.

"Well aren't you just adorable!" He said in a tone that slightly resembled speaking to a toddler.

"Um… Thank you." You said. It was then that behind the door came a man's deep laughter followed by a "SHUT UP BASTARD!" The door then opened to reveal a woman with blonde hair pulled up with hazel eyes and wearing the same blue uniform as everyone else surrounding you.

"Ms. Rigby, Colonel Mustang would like to speak with you." She said with such a flat tone it scared you just a bit. You nodded and entered the room. The door shut behind you and though you were now in a room with only two people, you felt your nervousness didn't ease any. Behind a large desk sat a man. Possibly late 20's early 30's. He was handsome, with dark eyes, black hair and a charming smirk across his face. He looked amused. Edward however, looked angry.

"Alison Rigby, I presume." You older man's voice said your name smoothly.

"Yes, sir." You managed to say. Edward stood up and walked over to you. The Colonel watched in amusement as Edward spoke softly to you. Your face seemed to grow pale before hissing out "What? Do I have to?" Ed nodded. "He'll think I'm crazy!"

"If you two are done gossiping, let's get down to the matter at hand." Colonel Mustang spoke up. Edward glared at his superior. "Ms. Rigby, please have a seat." The Colonel gestured to a chair next to the chair Ed had previously occupied. You did as you were told and sat down. "Fullmetal has requested that you travel with him and his brother. He says he believes you could help him with a certain task of his that he is trying to fulfill. Do you know what I'm talking about?"

"Yes, sir." You nodded.

"Good. Now tell me, how do you plan to go about getting him laid? Do you plan to take the task on upon yourself, or will you be selecting a candidate for him?" He smirked.

"The fuck! That is not what we're here for!" Ed yelled.

"Oh, so this is a mission you still wish to complete, but at another time?" Roy asked.

"God dammit, Colonel! Stop putting words in my mouth! You know that is not what I meant!" The whole time you could only wonder how on earth this man became a Colonel. The Colonel had a good laugh at Edward's expense before changing his demeanor to a more professional one.

"It was just a joke, Fullmetal. Calm down." He said before turning back to you. "You are aware of this task we're really talking about then. So tell me how you are capable of helping Fullmetal and his brother accomplish this?"

"Well, I… um…" you stammered out.

"On her back are the symbols used in the transmutation of the Philosopher's Stone." Ed spoke up for you.

"I see. And I'm supposed to not assume you had this done recently to trick one of my state alchemists because…?"

"Are you saying I'd be stupid enough to be tricked that easily?" Edward growled.

"I didn't say it at all." Mustang smirked.

"Look, I know how this may seem. But Edward kind of just found me. I was unconscious and when I woke up this thing was on my back. I have no idea where it came from. It wasn't there yesterday morning, I assure you." You explained.

"Let me see it."

"I'm sorry?"

"You heard me. Let me see it. I'll be the judge of how authentic it is." The Colonel said. You looked at Edward who became very annoyed at the Colonel's demand.

"Dammit, Colonel this is hardly the time for-"

"Now Fullmetal, I know what you're going to say, but I assure you this is just for the purpose of determining the truth." Mustang said smoothly. He then raised his finger and bent it in a request for you come over to his desk. You sighed and walked over to his desk.

"This seems extremely inappropriate." You said as you turned around and lifted the back of your shirt just enough to show the bottom of the markings.

"Hmm… It doesn't look fresh. No scabbing, no swelling, no peeling. And it doesn't look old either. It's not faded at all." Mustang mused to himself. Next thing he knew, a hand smacked his and the creamy skin he was admiring with his fingertips was gone. You jumped away when you felt him touch your back and pulled your shirt down.

"Alright Mustang, that's it. You've seen it, so is she approved for travel or no?" Ed said through gritted teeth.

"Hmm.. Come back tomorrow and I'll have your answer." Mustang said before waving his hand in dismissal. Ed was all but fuming when he quickly stood up and stomped to the door with you behind him. "Oh, and Ms. Rigby, feel free to drop by whenever you like." He said with a flirtatious wink. Your face gained a shade or two of pink before Ed grabbed your hand and pulled you out of the office.

"Was he just hitting on me?" You asked as he pulled you through the other office.

"Yes, the fucking womanizing bastard." Ed nearly yelled.

"How old is he? I mean, he's like twice my age." You mumbled.

Al watched his brother all but drag you back into the hallway and far away from Mustang's office. Hawkeye sighed and put her hand on her gun.

"If I've told him once, I've told him a thousand times." She mumbled before walking back into his personal office.

"The Colonel flirting with Ed's girlfriend?" Breda asked.

"Oh, she's not his girlfriend. But yes, I do believe that's what happened." Al said with a nervous laugh. "I better go with them." Al stated before running off to catch up with his brother.

"Ed, don't you think we should visit the Lt. Colonel?" Al suggested. Ed groaned in protest but sighed as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I guess so. I just don't want to listen to him ramble on about his daughter." Ed complained.

"Ed, my boy!" A loud voice came from down the hall.

"Looks like we don't get a choice." Ed mumbled. A man, maybe in his early thirties walked hastily towards you and the Elric brothers. His hair was black, he had a beard, and he wore rectangular framed glasses and clothed in the same blue uniform everyone else was wearing.

"How're you boys doing?" The man asked cheerfully as he reached them. He then caught sight of you. "Oh, who is this young woman? Edward, did you get yourself a girlfriend?" He asked while giving Ed a teasing grin.

"No!" Ed snapped irritably. "This is Alison. She's… a friend of ours." Ed chose his words carefully.

"Nice to meet you, Alison. I'm Lt. Colonel Maes Hughes!" The man extended his hand. You shook his hand and with a smile, nodded.

"Pleased to meet you." You said politely.

"I understand now. She's far too polite for Edward. She must be with Alphonse!" Hughes exclaimed.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Ed ranted. Alphonse calmed his brother down and restrained him from his attempt of hurting the man in front of him.

"You boys haven't been over in awhile. Why don't you come over for dinner?" Hughes suggested.

"I don't know…" Ed contemplated, obviously still annoyed.

"Gracia can make that apple pie you like so much." Hughes tried to persuade Edward with food.

"Well… I suppose we could come by…" Ed tried to say casually, but it was obvious his decision had been made at the mention of pie.

"Great! See you guys tonight! I can't wait for you to see how big Elysia has gotten!" He squealed. "And bring your girlfriend too, Ed!"

"She's not my girlfriend!" Ed yelled.

"I'm sorry, Al's girlfriend!" Hughes teased as he hastily walked away. Ed stood there, fuming as the older man ran off.

"Is he always this easy to tease?" You whispered to Alphonse.

"I can hear you!" Ed yelled. You bit your lip to hold back a giggle. Apparently it was that easy.

That night you were greeted at the large estate of Maes Hughes by he and his wife, Gracia. They were both very kind and happy to meet you. The three of you entered their house where you froze and stared at the little 2 footer staring wide eyed and bushy tailed at you and the Elrics. She immediately ran up to Edward and hugged his leg as she called him "Big brother Ed" Before doing the same to Al and calling him "Big brother Al." It was definitely on a list of the top 10 cutest things you'd ever seen.

"Where's sister?" She asked, looking slightly disappointed.

"Winry had to go back home." Alphonse told the little girl as he picked her up. The pout she gave also went on the list.

"Elysia, say hello to our new guest." Gracia said as she took her daughter from Al. "This is Alison." Elysia stared at you for a few seconds before smiling a smile that also went on that list before waving happily. You were sure if you spent too much time around this kid that whole list would consist of things she'd done.

Dinner was served, eaten, or in Ed's case, devoured. You offered to help Gracia with the dishes. Alphonse went to play with Elysia. Hughes took this opportunity to pull Ed away and to his study.

"So, tell me about this girl." Hughes said as he sat down in his chair with an after dinner glass of whiskey.

"She's just a friend of ours." Edward said a little too casually. Hughes narrowed his brow and looked at Edward with a studious gaze.

"Don't lie to me Ed. Who is she, really?" Ed fidgeted for awhile under Hughes' gaze before sighing in defeat.

"We found her."

"_Found _her?"

"Yeah. In Frondt. I was just out walking in the woods and… there she was. Unconscious. On the ground. I took her back to our hotel. She looked fine, didn't seem to have any severe injuries or anything. Winry and Al agreed with me that I couldn't have just left her there. She woke up an hour or so later. Confused. Actually, confused is an understatement. She had no idea where she was. I'm not exactly what happened. Al said he walked in to check on her and she was awake and about to take off. Tried using some kind of spray on him that she said was a self defense thing. Panicked when of course it didn't work. But ran past him. And that's when she ran into us in the hallway. Like I said, she had no idea where she was. So Winry and I calm her down enough to convince her to come back to the room to talk." Ed explained. There was a pause.

"…And? What? You just took her in? That's not like you Ed. There's more you aren't telling me." Hughes interrogated.

"Well… the next part isn't very… believable. And I know it sounds insane. And you know I'm not the type to just believe something without hard evidence behind it. But… I honestly think she's telling the truth. She had some proof to back up what she was saying. If she was lying or crazy, she's very dedicated to that false truth."

"What is it? Is she saying she's some alien or something." Hughes joked.

"Heh. Not exactly. She said… that she's from… a different time." A long pause.

"…What?"

"I know, I know. I know how it sounds. But she had personal possessions that weren't from here. Things that looked far too advanced. Not like a flying car or anything, but something she called a digital camera. It's a camera that has a screen on the back and she can take a picture, it appears on the screen, and she can get rid of it with the touch of a button if she wants. She says she can view it before she gets a hard copy and it doesn't waste film. And a phone that she said doesn't need a phone line. It's crazy, but I've seen these things. And her identifications look strange but they have a different date. A date almost 100 years from now. And the area she's from, is no where in this world. She's never heard of Amestris or a state alchemist. She says alchemy has no real purpose in her world and had no idea it works the way it does here." Edward explained and suddenly got an inkling of how you felt when you tried to explain yourself. There was no way to tell this story without feeling crazy.

"Ed… how do you know she isn't lying?"

"I don't know. My gut says she's telling the truth. And though she couldn't actually show me this world every piece of evidence she's given hasn't shown that she's lying. Believe me, I know this sounds crazy."

"Okay, so let's say she is… not from around here. That doesn't answer why you have her staying with you and your brother. Why not arrange something else for her, or have Winry take her in. I'm sure she would have. Why is she travelling with you two when it's so dangerous? You don't even let Winry travel with you for very long." Hughes asked. Edward lowered his head and suddenly got very quiet.

"She freaked out and ran off. We went looking for her. I found her a second time in the same place I found her the first time. While running part of her shirt was torn. That's when I noticed something on her back. The same transmutation circle used for a Philosopher's Stone… was on her back. She claimed she had no idea where it came from. And her shock when she discovered it seemed genuine. She said it hadn't been there before. She doesn't remember how she got here. But she… she has some connection to the stone, whether she knows it or not. We told her that she could travel with us and she could maybe help us find out more about the stone and on the way maybe she'd find a way home." Edward explained. He actually seemed sad when he told Hughes this strange part of the story.

"Does she realize how dangerous this could be?" Edward nodded. "Ed…" Hughes leaned back in his chair and sighed while placing a hand over his face before removing it and sitting back up. "Let me talk to her. I'll tell you if she's lying or not. If she is, I say ditch her quick. She could be a spy or just some crazy girl. She honestly seemed very nice so despite how crazy the story sounds, I hope she isn't lying. And if she is telling the truth, the three of you should stay here for a few more days and do some research before deciding if she should really travel with you or not.

You sat down in the den with Gracia, Alphonse, and Elicia. Al was still playing with Elicia while you and Gracia sat on the couch and talked. With every question she asked about yourself you had to be very careful as to how you answered them. Though Gracia was an amazingly sweet woman, she asked too many questions and you were beginning to have trouble answering them.

"Hey, Alison! Why don't I give you a tour or the house?" Hughes suddenly appeared. You smiled and agreed, more than happy to be away from the interrogation you were currently under. You followed Hughes around the lower level of the house. It really was a beautiful house. He led you upstairs and showed you the guest rooms, the master bedroom, and Elicia's room that not surprisingly was decorated like a fairy tale. Pink walls with castle murals on the wall. The bed head board was carved out in the shape of a castle. It was obvious she was Hughes' little princess so to make her feel like one was not shocking at all. He then led you to his study.

"Why don't you have a seat." He suggested. His tone was friendly but something also told you that you didn't have much of a choice. You suddenly became very nervous as you took a seat. The door shut behind Hughes as he walked across the room and sat down in a large cushioned chair in across from you. The friendly face he wore suddenly became serious and intimidating.

"I have a feeling this isn't part of the tour." You said nervously. It must have been obvious how nervous you were. He noticed how uneasy you looked, how your breathing elevated, and you began to wring you hands. "May I ask what this is about?" Edward had talked about the military and alchemical experiments and that entire conversation rushed back into your mind. Maes Hughes was after all, part of the military that Edward feared might take his brother if they discovered their secret. But he trusted Hughes, right? Hughes leaned back in his chair, his arm draped over the top.

"Don't look so nervous." He offered a friendly smile, but that look. You recognized it immediately. It wasn't the first time you'd been under the gaze of a human lie detector. "Just tell me about yourself."

"Um…okay. What do you want to know?" You asked, picking your words carefully.

"Well…for starters, where are you from? How do you know the boys? They've never mentioned you before."

"I'm… from a small town far away…_very_ far away." You began.

"What's it called?" He asked. This was going to be difficult. Did he know? Was he trying to see if you would lie or not?

"You've never heard of it. I promise." You said with an attempt at a casual wave of your hand.

"I'm in the investigations department for the military. I'm sure if it's in Amestris, I've heard of it." He said with a chuckle. You'd been interrogated before. Your grandfather from your mother's side was also the phenomenon that was a human lie detector. So you picked up on subtle things. 'If it's in Amestris, I've heard of it.' Was one of those subtle things you picked up on. If you mentioned anywhere outside of Amestris, he would know and you would more than likely quickly be deemed a spy. You sighed and leaned forward, hands coming together.

"Okay. I'm not stupid. This chat has nothing to do with just getting to know me. My grandfather was a retired Colonel and a retired police detective. He pulled this kind of stuff on me all the time. So what is this really about?" You asked. Mentioning your grandfather was a retired Colonel in a military that didn't even exist here was probably a bad idea, it would raise more questions. But it got the point across.

"Who's your grandfather?" Hughes asked. There it was. Story time was about to begin.

"Colonel Luther Palmer." You answered straight face, looking in straight in the eyes. A suspicion flashed across his eyes before disappearing.

"Really? I've never heard of him." He said casually. "He's retired you say? Where was he stationed?"

"Of course you've never heard of him. He was part of the United States military." And with that you waited for the questions to come. There was a short pause.

"I've never heard of that. Is that what Drachma now calls their military?"

"I don't know what or where Drachma is. I assume it's a country around here, but no. The United States of America is where I'm from." You stated. A longer pause. Hughes furrowed his brow.

"I'm sorry… where?" You sighed.

"I'm just going to cut to the chase. I know what this talk is about. Like I said, I'm familiar with these talks. When I was a kid, if a something was broken, or a cookie eaten before dinner or a mess made anywhere at my grandparents house, one of these talks happened. I'm sure it's become obvious that, well… I'm not from around here. I don't know Edward and Alphonse. They rescued me. From what or where, I don't know. I was safe at home, a splitting headache, but safely home nonetheless. Suddenly that headaches turns into a migraine. I end up passing out. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in some strange hotel. And then Al comes in, scared me half to death. And then as I run away from him, I meet Edward and Winry. As they calm me down I suddenly realize, I'm not anywhere near home. As insane as it sounds, this country is not where I'm from. And believe me, if this place is as powerful and I've been told it is, I would've heard about it. Where I am from however, is one of the strongest countries in the world. How I got here, I have no clue. How I get home, no clue. Why I'm here, your guess is as good as mine. But Edward has some idea as to why I'm here however."

"The Philosopher's Stone?" Hughes butted in. You stared at him before frowning.

"So you know? About the markings on my back?" You asked. He nodded. "Then if you know this whole story, why am I repeating it to you? Was this whole thing solely to tell if I was lying, telling the truth, or just plain crazy?" You asked, just a little annoyed. Just a little. Hughes grinned.

"Actually, yes. Before you get upset, understand that I am very protective of Edward and Alphonse. They've been through a lot in their lives and even though they seem to think they are fine on their own, they do need someone to look after them and help them out every now and then. They for the most part travel alone. But then suddenly this girl comes along that is supposed to travel with them? Of course I'll be suspicious. And the story you told and one I heard before, sounds highly unbelievable."

"Believe what you want. I'm not lying but I know how strange it is. Call the mental hospital if you want. I'm not at all unsure that this isn't all just some kind of dream anyways. Maybe I really just hit my head and I'm in a coma and this is all some strange dream-like state. But I know that what I've told Edward and Alphonse, Colonel Mustang, and you, is true. I don't expect anyone to believe me. I was surprised when Ed and Al said they believed me. But who knows, maybe they were just humoring me because of the thing on my back. I do feel compelled to help those two… I can tell they're good guys. They didn't have to help me but they did. But I also want to get home. I've been gone maybe about 24 hours now. So I know my family is searching for me and I can't answer my phone so I know they're panicking. And even just being gone for such a short period of time, I will have a lot to explain even if I end up getting back home in the next five minutes."

"I think maybe we should take you to a doctor and then-" Hughes suggested before abruptly being cut off.

"No. I hate doctors. I hate hospitals. All they do is throw a pill at whatever they think your problem is and say if that doesn't work we'll try something else and charge you a ton of money to get nothing done." You said flatly. "If you don't want me to travel with them, that's fine. I'd understand that and I can manage on my own. But I will not be told I'm crazy by someone that doesn't know me, and I will not go to a doctor." You said firmly. Hughes brought his hands down and folded them in his lap.

"I see. Well unfortunately, no matter what Colonel Mustang or I have to say about the matter, Ed will do whatever he wants either way. I believe he asked permission mainly as a formality and also so that any expenses you require would be taken care of by the military without dispute as his and his brother's expenses are. You're a very sweet girl. Your story is strange, yes. Even unbelievable. But I don't think you're lying. And I know Edward isn't one to just believe whatever he's told, and I know he does believe you. I can tell that you have some sense about you, and judging by your mannerisms, some decent survival skills. Mustang's approval for you to travel with the boys rides on my report. I will tell him that it's safe. I just ask you use that sense and skills to help them in their journeys." You nodded in agreement.

"How do you know anything about my level of survival skills?" You asked, mainly out of curiosity.

"Small scars on your hands and lower arms. You've had to work with your hands a lot. Your nails are long enough to be useful as nails but not long and manicured like most women so that just shows you view them for their usefulness and not for their vanity. During our talk you started out nervous. Then became for aggressive and challenged me which shows that despite the difficult task of revealing your truth to me, you did it with conviction and also shows that you would try your best to prevail at any task handed to you no matter to difficulty. I've had survival training. Conviction like that doesn't just come naturally. Somewhere along in your life you went through something that made you gain that."

"I told you my grandfather of a retired Colonel. He was also a very hard man. I spent my entire summer when I was 9 years old, with him. My grandmother was from Russia, a once hostile country in my world. But she was visiting her family in Russia that summer. So it was just my grandfather and I. For 4 weeks I did not see him. He blind folded me, took me out somewhere which I later learned was a friend's property; a thousand acres of mainly wooded area. So for the most part I was safe, but I didn't know that. He drops me off in the middle of the woods with a pocket knife, a canteen of water, and a jacket and told me I needed to learn to survive on my own or the world would eat me alive. And then he left. So for 4 weeks, I was in the middle of the woods, alone, with no one to rely on but myself." You explained.

"Maes, dear?" Came Gracia's voice as she knocked on the study door before opening it. "Maes you aren't interrogating this poor girl, are you?" Hughes only gave a goofy grin in response. "Is that how you treat our guests? I'm sorry about my husband. He doesn't know how to leave his investigation at work sometimes." She apologized while gentle taking your arm and bringing you to your feet. "Come downstairs with me, why don't you. I just made tea." She smiled. It was immediately then that you decided that this family might just be the death of you.

Gracia left with Alison behind her. The door shut behind them as they left.

"Told you." Came a voice from the back of the room. Edward stepped out of the closet.

"Well at least now you have the Maes Hughes Seal of Approval." Hughes grinned. Ed tried to not roll his eyes. "You come across some of the strangest people." He added. "Do you really think she has some connection to the stone? And what about this other world she's talking about?" Ed stood there in silence for awhile before speaking.

"When I sacrificed my arm for Al's soul, it took me somewhere. I couldn't tell you where it was. But… it showed me everything. My mind was filled with what seemed like the world's knowledge. But it wasn't just our world. There were places there that I've never seen or heard of before. Russia. That place sounded so familiar. That's why I believe her. Maybe she's from one of those other places. Maybe she went through the Gate. Maybe… she saw what I did. But perhaps she doesn't remember. It's possible. But if she did… that also means she knows more about alchemy than she realizes."


	3. Strangers With Candy

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist… Is this disclaimer really necessary?

A/N: I told myself I had to finish this before the month of November was over. And I did it! Yay! And I realized that even if the story is about 10 pages long on Microsoft word, it seems very short on this site. So this chapter is over 20 pages on Word. So Enjoy! Also, thank you to all that sent reviews and favorites and all that jazz! Happy to know people are reading this!

Such a depressing feeling; regaining consciousness after a good night's sleep and thinking you're lying in your own bed, in your own house, in your own world. And then you open your eyes and remember exactly where you are. Home sick. The only term to properly describe the feeling in your gut as you rolled over, opened you eyes, expecting to be in your own room, only to come back to reality and remember you were in the guest room of the Hughes home. You had reached for your phone to tell you the time. Your hand only met the wood of the bed side table and the lamp resting on it. With a sigh you sat up in bed, looked at the window and noticed it was still dark out. On the other side of the room was a clock. The moonlight allowed you to see that it was nearly four A.M. You lay back in bed and tried to go back asleep. After about thirty minutes of tossing and turning it became apparent you weren't going back to sleep. You got out of bed and looked out the window. You were on the second floor but in front of your window was part of the slanted roof. You opened the window, put on your jacket, and climbed out on to the roof. You would do the same thing at your house when you couldn't sleep. Maybe the fresh air would help. You reclined against the side of the window and looked out at the neighborhood around you. Your usual view was a road with a fence running alongside it lined with trees, with a field behind it, a few houses to the sides, a street light, the moon and stars. This wasn't your current view. A front yard with a stone wall around it, across a lit up street were a few houses of the same variety, and a couple of cars parked on the street.

"What the hell are you doing?" The voice made you jump as you stifled a startled yelp. You lost your grounding and almost slipped off the roof. You grabbed hold of the window sill to keep this from happening. "Shit!" Ed jumped out onto the roof and grabbed your arm and wrapping his arm around your waist to pull you back up into a more stable position.

"You scared the hell out of me!" You snapped. "What are you doing?"

"We heard you out here and wanted to know what you were doing. Do you know what time it is?" Ed said with a frown.

"We?"

"Hello." Al poked his head out the window and waved shyly.

"The hell…" You mumbled. You shook your head and sighed. "I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. I thought maybe some fresh air would help and this seemed easier than going downstairs and possibly waking everyone up. Plus, I'm not one-hundred percent sure my door isn't booby-trapped or something." You muttered.

"Why the hell would it be booby-trapped?" Ed asked with a raised brow.

"Well it's not like I'm exactly trusted here." You said like it was obvious.

"I kind of doubt the Lt. Colonel would booby-trap your door." He said with a light laugh.

"Why couldn't you sleep?" Al asked.

"I don't know. I'm home sick I guess. I woke up, and kind of forgot where I was, thought I was home. Then realized I wasn't and it made me sad. After that I just couldn't fall asleep." You said while looking down at your hands. "I'm just ready to go home. My family I know is worried about me. And I miss them a lot. And… oh shit! School! Oh god I'm going to be so behind!" You grabbed your head. "What if they flunk me and I'm stuck in the place for another year!" You buried your face in your hands. Ed and Al just stared at you, confused. What were they supposed to say to that little outburst?

"Well… umm… maybe you could study while you're here? And when you go back you'll already know all the subjects?" Ed suggested.

"You idiot! I've already made it clear how different these worlds are! Anything I learn here will be useless back home!" You snapped at him just like Winry would and out of habit he almost covered his head in fear of the deadly wrench. "I'm sorry…" You apologized softly. "I am. I'm just so stressed about all of this. I'm still having a hard time even wrapping my head around all of this. And I've even found myself asking myself if what I've been saying isn't actually true. What if everything I've remembered about my world is false and it's all been made up in my head? Maybe I am crazy…"

"Well even if that were true that doesn't explain the physical evidence you've shown. I mean, those books you have aren't anything like books we have here. And that phone thing and camera you showed us. And the money in your wallet isn't the currency of anywhere near here."

"…How do you know about the money in my wallet and the books I carry?" You asked suspiciously.

"Um… Uh… Al?" Ed turned around. Al had disappeared back into the room. "Coward!" Ed whispered. He turned back towards you.

"I'm waiting for an answer."

"Well… when we found you we kind of went through your things to kind of figure out who you were. We found you identification, and then saw some of the other stuff and were kind of curious." Ed said as he nervously rubbed the back of his head. You rolled your eyes, shook your head and turned you face towards the night's sky.

"Oh wow!" You exclaimed.

"What?" Al reappeared through the window.

"There are star constellations that look really similar to the ones in my world!" You said. "Look! That one right there we call 'the big dipper' and that one looks like 'Orion' and that one 'Perseus'!" You pointed to the constellations as you named them. You looked for other constellations you may have recognized but the city lights made it difficult. You continued to sit there on the roof talking to Edward and Alphonse, telling them a little more about your life back home, and learning a little more about them. It wasn't long until the sun began to rise.

"Which direction is that?" You asked while pointing towards the rising sun.

"That's East." Edward told you.

"Really? This world, it's so similar to mine. But at the same time so different. It seems the difference lies not in the physical attributes of the world itself, but how things evolved and what discoveries became more popular. Just one little difference is what it takes to change history of two identical worlds…" You mused mainly to yourself. "Maybe I'm wrong though." You shrugged. "But I actually feel I can sleep now. Thank you guys for talking to me." You smiled. Edward smiled back, and you could tell that if Alphonse could, he would have. You all returned to your rooms and went back to sleep.

You were awoken early in the morning by someone gently shaking you. You groaned and reached for your phone. …Fuck.

"What are you looking for?" Gracia asked softly.

"Hm? Nothing. Just a habit." You said sleepily as you sat up in bed.

"I figured today you could go shopping with Elycia and me." She said with a warm smile.

"Like grocery shopping?"

"Well, yes. But also to buy you some new clothes. You can't wear the same change of clothing every day."

"That sounds very nice, but I don't have any money." You told her.

"That's all right. Maes said he would pay for it." She smiled.

"What? No, I can't let you do that." You protested. Your parents buying your clothes was acceptable. But you didn't even really know these people.

"We insist." Something told you that you wouldn't be winning this argument. "Here are so old clothes of mine you can wear today. After I had Elicia I just couldn't fit in them anymore." She said with a light laugh. "Breakfast will be ready soon." She smiled and left the room.

Breakfast was relatively silent. Gracia asked a few questions and you answered them, but nothing that started up a conversation. The Elric brothers had apparently left earlier to head to headquarters. They said they had some research to do. Something told you that the research was about you.

Despite your obvious hesitance to accept them, Gracia bought you some new clothes. Nothing fancy; just a few pairs of pants, shirts and under garments. As the day went on, you began to relax. Gracia was very nice, and Elycia was just downright adorable.

As the day began to end and sun started to go down, you returned to the Hughes home. The Elrics were still gone. You had hoped they would have been back by then. You helped Gracia prepare dinner with the groceries you'd helped her get earlier in the day. As if some sort of bat-signal went out for the Elrics in the form of dinner being served, Ed and Al returned just in time for dinner.

"So apparently in this town there are these criminals using alchemy to immobilize their victims and take their valuables. So the Colonel apparently thinks I'm the only one qualified to bring down some two-bit criminals." Ed told Hughes over dinner, seeming agitated over his new assignment.

"Well, you do have a little bit of experience with crooks and alchemy. What was her name? Oh yeah! Siren, right?" Hughes said with a laugh. Ed mumbled a not-so-eloquent 'shut up' and continued eating his food.

A few more days passed. Your time was spent with Gracia and Elycia. You didn't mind. The Hughes family seemed uncommonly kind and little Elycia was beginning to grow on you. The Elrics spent their time at headquarters and in the library. You enjoyed your time with Gracia and Elycia, but you felt more attached to the Elrics and missed them. They were the first people you'd met in this world. You'd been in Central for about a week when Edward informed you and Alphonse that you would be leaving for the town his next assignment was in.

Something you'd picked up on fairly quickly: trains were incredibly boring. Field. Field. Field. Field with trees. Field. Oh hey, a cow! Oh, wait, no. Just a bush… in a field. Pretty much summed it up. Except when Edward was awake and causing havoc over god knows what. Whether someone had called him short or he was trying to cheat his brother at a card game. He often failed at that one.

When you (finally!) arrived at your destination, it was pouring down rain. When the three of you arrived at the nearest hotel, you and Edward were soaked to the bone. Instead of waiting to change into some fresh clean clothes, Edward just clapped his hands and placed them on his clothes, instantly drying them. You had no such skill, and it would have seemed awkward to ask him to do the same for you. So when you arrived in the room you retreated to the bathroom to change into some dry clothes. Despite Hughes' suggestion to get a separate room for you to preserve your 'honor' you shared a room with the brothers. It honestly did not bother you. You spent a majority of your time around boys. Most of your best friends were boys. As long as you were free to use the bathroom to change and shower without any intrusions, you were fine. The boys, so used to just having one room, even with Winry around, didn't even think about it when they asked for one room. You kind of missed Winry. Granted you'd only be around her for about a day, but she was very kind to you.

"Achoo!" The loud sneeze almost made you jump out of your skin.

"Are you feeling okay, brother?" Alphonse asked his older brother.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Ed assured Al as he blew his nose with a tissue. "I just need some rest."

You were woken up early in the morning. Al was gently shaking you.

"What is it Al?" You asked, still half asleep.

"I think something is wrong with brother." Worry was evident in his voice. Sliding out of bed, you walked over to Ed and observed him. He was pale, beads of sweat covered his body, and he looked incredibly uncomfortable. You put your hand on his forehead and immediately withdrew it.

"He has a very high fever. We need to call a doctor." You hurried down to the lobby and asked for the number of a doctor that would come to the hotel. They let you use the phone to call the doctor that was recommended. The doctor agreed to arrive shortly. As promised, the doctor had arrived at the door within half an hour. The doctor observed Edward and asked a few questions.

"He's been pushing himself a lot lately, and not getting much sleep, or eating properly. And he got caught in the rain yesterday." Alphonse informed the doctor.

"He seems to have a touch of pneumonia. It's nothing too severe it seems so a shot of penicillin should take care of his fever." The doctor pulled out a needle and glass bottle. Pulling the contents of the bottle into the syringe, the doctor cleaned an area of Ed's arm, and injected him with the medicine. "This medicine will help him recovery more quickly. Just have this filled and give it to him when he's well enough." The doctor handed Alphonse the prescription. Al thanked the doctor as he left.

Al left to get the medication and you stayed to look after Ed. You wet a wash cloth with cold water to help lower his fever. After ringing out the excess water, you sat down on the side of the bed and wiped Ed's face with it. He was beginning to regain his normal color and his fever had gone down. You dragged the cloth down along his neck. A hand shot up and grabbed your wrist, startling you. You looked to his face to see his eyes open slightly.

"How are you feeling Edward?" You asked softly. He didn't respond at first. Had he heard you? His hand left your wrist, snaking up your arm, then to the side of your face.

"Alley?" He whispered softly.

"Yes, Edward. It's me." You replied. Your face felt hot. Surely it was just because his hand was warm. Right? He let out a content sigh, closed his eyes and brought his arm back down to his side.

"Good." He said softly as a small smile formed on his lips. Good? What did that mean?

"What do you mean? ….Ed? Ed!" He'd fallen back asleep. It probably meant nothing. Telling yourself that, however, didn't make the blush go away any faster.

The next few days Edward was finally beginning to feel better. He and Alphonse had gone to the local police station to gather information about the gang of thieves. You sat at a table by yourself in a small restaurant. You'd spent most of the day wondering around the town and learning what you could about this world. Edward had suggested the three of you meeting for an early dinner. Though Al couldn't eat, he would still join you and enjoy the company. So as you sat at the table alone waiting for the Elrics to arrive, you read one of the books you carried in your bag. One of the many reasons the backpack was so heavy.

You wore casual attire. Jeans, sneakers, and a plain shirt. On your left ring finger you wore a golden ring with a small diamond in it. It was your grandmother's promise ring that your grandfather had given her when they were dating. Your grandmother gave it to your mother, who in turn gave it to you on your sixteenth birthday. It was very special to you. You kept it on the ring finger because that was the finger it fit best on. You knew it could give the appearance you were engaged or married. But the people you surround yourself with know you aren't. And if the appearance helps to ward off a few creepers, well, that was a bonus.

Everything seemed peaceful. The patrons of the restaurant were busy carrying on conversations with their friends or family they were sitting with and eating their food. The diner was filled with the hum of voices and the clatter of silverware against dishware. What was taking them so long? Surely they were on their way. You'd been around the boys for nearly 2 weeks and already figured out how much Ed tended to eat. Well, except for when he was reading. While in Central with him you'd witnessed him going hours and nearly a whole day without a bite to eat; far too immersed in whatever text he was reading to bother with, or perhaps even notice his need for food. If it weren't for Alphonse bringing him food and forcefully interrupting Edward's reading by yanking the text out of his hands, Edward probably would have gone all day without a single bite to eat. It was strange really; Al was the one without a human body, but it seemed he had to constantly remind Ed that he did have a human body, and therefore certain limitations that he seemed to forget at times. However, when he wasn't absorbed in some sort of book that you noticed always had to do with alchemy, Edward was an eating machine. Every few hours stopping to get something to eat and devouring it in a few bites. He definitely had the typical appetite of a teenage boy most of the time.

Edward and Alphonse had taught you a little about alchemy. They were surprised with how quickly you caught on to the practice; almost like you'd done it before. Edward mentioned that it could possibly have something to do with the symbols on your back since they are connected to alchemy. Either way, you were still learning. You weren't near the level that the Elric brothers were on. You liked to practice it whenever you could. There was nothing in your world quite like. It felt like magic. But Edward would always be quick to remind you that it was not magic, but science, and because it is a science there are a set of rules that _must_ be followed.

You put down your book with a sigh and looked out the window that overlooked the street, hoping to see the Elric brothers approaching. You'd been waiting awhile. You were contemplating going outside and waiting. It was a fairly nice day out; the fall weather making it just a bit chilly but the sun at the same time keeping things a little warmer, though as it got later it would soon begin to get colder. But at least you wouldn't be sitting awkwardly at a table by yourself. You decided you'd wait inside five more minutes before exiting the building in favor of either waiting outside or doing something else.

However, it suddenly became clear you would have to extend that time to a little past five minutes. It all happened so quickly. No one had any time to react. The tables morphed as part of the wood came up and wrapping around customers' wrists and ankles, limiting their movement. The chairs suddenly appeared to be melded to the floor; no one could move. Your hands lay bound, flat on the table. It was then that you took notice that you hadn't seen a single employee of the restaurant in at least ten minutes.

Three men appeared from behind kitchen doors; their faces covered and with sacks in their hands. It became obvious that these were the men using alchemy to rob the people of this town. Kind of a bold move though; doing it in broad daylight, middle of the afternoon, in a crowded place, with a State Alchemist in town. A State Alchemist who had better get his ass there fast!

The men split up, taking separate areas of the room to start picking valuables and money off of the citizens. They dug in back pockets for wallets, yanked necklaces off of necks, rings off of fingers, money from purses. They even stole an old man's glasses because they looked valuable. They just grinned and laughed, occasionally saying something to one of their partners. They got closer to you. The only valuable thing on you was your grandmother's ring. They would definitely take that. Like hell you were going to let them. As they approached you, you balled your left hand into a tight fist. One of the men reached you, looking you over before his eyes settled on the gold. He reached down to open your fist, but when he did you only tightened it. He tried harder but you had one hell of a death grip.

"Open your fist!" He growled angrily. You just clenched your teeth and ignored him while looking down at the table. "Oy! I said open your fist!" When you didn't respond he brought his fist down, hitting hard on your forearm. You pulled at your restraints and muffled a cry of pain in response, but didn't open your fist. This was your grandmother's. This had meaning. It wasn't just a piece of jewelry. They were _not_ going to take this. A hand grabbed a fistful of hair before slamming your head into the table. "You really gonna cause this much trouble over a damn ring?" The man asked angrily. You just clenched your teeth, tightened your fist, and closed your eyes. "You little fucking brat." He growled before standing up straight. "Hey, hand me that bat. I'll break this little bitch's hand if I have to." He said to one of his companions. A bat? A fucking bat? As in a hard solid blunt object for hitting things with? Over a ring? Your heart began to race. Was it really worth a broken arm? Or a broken everything? One of the men tossed the other the blunt object. The grin that crept across his face said he'd injured people for less. His hand fisted in your hair, pulling your sore face off of the table. "One less chance before a shatter your arm. You gonna give me that ring?" Right as you were about to unclench your fist and reluctantly give up your ring, you heard a 'thunk' before the bat was dropped, your hair was released, and the man covered the back of his head and let out a howl of pain.

"Take your damn hands off of her!" Came from a very angry Edward. He looked very angry; one might have thought he'd been called short. The three men took notice of this new threat and approached the brothers with every intent of violent actions written all over their face. You took this distraction to reach for the fork on your table. You managed to reach it with the tips of your fingers and pull it closer. You picked it up; holding it like a pencil and with one of the outer prongs drew a transmutation circle that would allow you to free yourself. As the wooden restraints reverted back to their original form as part of the table, you did the same to the chair, freeing your legs.

Ed and Alphonse were keeping the criminals busy, giving you time to draw a circle on the floor of the restaurant and free the other civilians. The moment they were free they jumped out of their seats knocking off dishes and over tables as they went. You ran back to the kitchen, finding the restaurant employees restrained together. They retreated out of the back door when they were freed, avoiding the violence happened in the front of the store.

You heard a loud crash and the sound of glass shattering. You stuck your head out of the door to see Ed had been thrown into a glass case followed by a dozen pieces of expensive looking dinnerware falling out of the case around him. Two of the men were busy with Alphonse, but at the same time keeping him from helping his brother. Ed's assaulter was the same man who had assaulted you. You noticed blood starting to discolor his golden hair and darken a few spots of his jacket. You quickly ducked back in the kitchen, grabbing the biggest frying pan you could. Ed was slightly incapacitated and the man lifted his bat, about to strike. With as much stealth and quickness as a cartoon in an old Looney Toons episode you came up behind the man and hit him in the back of the head with the pan. The man fell to the floor, knocked out cold. The only thing that would have made it better is if little stars floated around his head. He hadn't been hit hard enough to die, just enough to be in a lot of pain when he wakes up. You went to Ed's side to check if he was okay. He was conscious. But he was injured. The glass he'd been tossed into had given him quite a few deep cuts. How serious the injuries were was uncertain. Blood covered the glass and wood that surrounded him. He wasn't losing a lot of blood, but he was losing enough to cause you to worry. You then felt a rumble under your feet. You looked over at Al to find he had managed to detain the criminals by transmuting the floor and creating a cocoon that held them from the shoulders down.

"Are you okay?" You asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks." He winced as he began to stand.

"Stop moving. We need to have a doctor check you out."

"I'm fine." He insisted with a little more bite to his voice. "I've been through worse." He mumbled as he stood up.

"Brother! Are you all right?" Al ran to his brother's side the moment he was able to.

"I'm fine, Al." Ed managed to grunt out. "Just a few scratches."

At that moment a group of police officers filled the room. They surveyed the damage with a frown before laying eyes on the incapacitated criminals. Alphonse walked over and removed the cocoon-like restraints so the officers could arrest them. They didn't try to hide the sneers they gave him before shooting a few toward Edward. They arrested the men and removed them from the building, having a little trouble with the one you'd knocked in the head. A round man walked in as soon as the men were taken away. He looked at Edward with a frown.

"Mr. Fullmetal, I thought we had agreed you would leave this investigation up to us." He said with clear annoyance in his voice.

"I don't recall that being our agreement." He replied. "If I remember, you told me to get out of your station, and I told you I had orders from the military to investigate these crimes. Considering they're using alchemy, I'm a State Alchemist, and I've had experience with thieves like these before, I would say I'm right in my jurisdiction. And not to mention I caught them in that act. You could say I was just a bystander who took action." He said with a smirk. The man's face grew red with anger.

"You military personnel are constantly causing trouble! Look what you've done to this place!" The chief accused.

"What _I've _done? Any damage done here was caused by those criminals!" He snapped back at the man.

"Because of your meddling!"

"So I was supposed to stand back and not do what I was ordered to do and watch them steal from these people and hurt them?"

"I don't care what your excuses are! Nothing but trouble! You are to return to my station and report to us what happened!" He barked before spinning around and stomping away. Ed gritted his teeth and clenched his fists in anger. The movement of muscles in his left arm quickly reminded him of the wounds he had sustained.

"Let's go." He said as he walked towards the door.

As the three of you left the building you were immediately greeted with a crowd of people, all glaring at you. Edward noticed how uneasy your looked so he grabbed your wrist with his automail hand and directed you and Alphonse away from the crowd all while hearing them say things to each other about the military. The three of you returned to the hotel. Edward and Alphonse continued up to their room. You went to the front desk and asked to borrow their phone. After a lot of coercion and complaining, Edward caved and told Al he would have a doctor look at his wounds. You went to the front desk and called the doctor you had called before when Edward was sick. You told the doctor the situation and that Edward needed medical attention. You got a click and a dial tone in response.

"So…" You started as you returned to the room. "I don't think the doctor is coming." You told them.

"Why?" Al asked.

"Because after I talked to him and told him the situation he hung up on me."

"Are you serious?" Al asked, annoyance edging into his voice.

"Yeah. But despite everyone else suddenly hating us, the hotel owners seem indifferent and gave me medical supplies. I do have some first aid training. As long as they aren't anything too severe, I can take care of the wounds." You told them.

"Really? That would be great." Al said brightly. The phone suddenly rang. Edward answered only to be greeted with yelling on the other end. When the other end stopped yelling Edward slammed the receiver down.

"It'll have to wait. That was the chief of police. He wants a statement now." Edward grumbled.

"No, you stay here and have her take care of your wounds. I'll go." Al insisted. Edward nodded in stubborn agreement and Alphonse left.

You walked over to the bed side table and began laying out the medical supplies. You sat down on the bed, one leg pulled up and one hanging off the bed so that you were facing the foot of the bed. You motioned for Ed to sit down next to you. He oddly enough seemed to hesitate for a moment before doing as you requested. Did he hate getting medical attention that much? You opened the bottle of antiseptic used to clean the wounds. It looked and smelled similar to the same antiseptic you would use in your world to clean injuries. You poured some on the gauze and brought it up to his arm.

"I need you to take your jacket off." You told him. Without a word he removed his red jacket. There was a pause. "The other one too."

"I'm fine. I don't know what you and Al are so worked up about." He mumbled as he turned his head away.

"We're worried about it getting infected. You just got over pneumonia. You're body isn't back to its full health. If these injuries aren't taken care of and they get infected you could get very sick."

"I'll be fine. You're both just overreacting-"

"If you don't remove that jacket, I will remove it for you." You interrupted with an all too serious tone. "I told Al I would take care of your injuries and that what I'm going to do, even if I have to cause a few more in the process." He didn't move for a few moments. He didn't say a word or even look at you as he reached up and unclasped his black jacket. You almost didn't see the way he winced as he pulled it from his left arm. He finally got it off his left arm; he seemed to hesitate before removing the jacket the rest of the way. "Now the shirt."

"What? Why?" He seemed both embarrassed and irritated.

"Because some of the injuries are on your back and I can't get to those with your shirt blocking them! Now off!" He mumbled something you didn't quite catch before taking his shirt off. As he sat, half naked, in front of you, you couldn't help but wonder why he was so self conscious. His body was definitely one to be admired. You'd never seen him without a shirt before but you began to think that maybe it was a sight you wouldn't mind seeing more often. So with such a muscular and firm body like his why was he so self—ooohhhhh…. You noticed how he nervously rubbed his automail arm. He was self-conscious because of the automail. Well shit. Didn't you just feel like a bitch? "I'm… I'm sorry." You murmured softly. He didn't respond. "This going to sting a little bit." You warned. You gently put the antiseptic soaked gauze on one of the injuries up close to his shoulder. He immediately tensed up and sucked in a sharp breath.

"I'm sorry!" You apologized.

"S'fine." He mumbled as he seemed to relax a little. Hesitantly you brought it back to the same area, cleaning it as gently and as thoroughly as you could. You decided to try to talk to him to maybe help keep his mind off the pain.

"You know, when I was about twelve years old, my mother decided that was the appropriate time for me to start being able to start babysitting. But before I could, she made me taking these first aid classes so I could learn the proper way to take care of injuries or handle emergencies. I thought it was a stupid idea. But it came in handy when I would babysit my younger cousins. They're little hell-spawned demon children so they were constantly getting into trouble and getting hurt or hurting each other. And I guess it's really come in handy now, considering the doctor here is kind of a jerk."

"It's not his fault." Edward said.

"Huh?"

"Some people just don't like the military. Several years back the Amestrian military was involved in a pretty brutal war. Since then the military has had a horrible reputation in some areas of the state. Not to say some of that reputation wasn't deserved. And there are a lot of corrupt higher ranking officers in the military, especially some of the alchemists. This town has had a few bad experiences with the military in the recent past, so most of the people here just don't trust anyone in the military. Even though I gained the title of 'hero of the people' some people only see me as a dog of the military." He explained

"I see. It's not that much different than where I'm from. There are people in my country who don't trust not only our military but the political system. They believe the government has too much control. Some people even believe the government is spying on everyone constantly." You poured a little more antiseptic on some new gauze, one that didn't have as much blood on it. "I bet you don't have people in tin foil hats living underneath the ground in fear of nuclear warfare or alien invasions though." You said. This actually made him chuckle a little bit.

"No. I can't say I've seen anyone like that here. Some of the people in your world sound a bit crazy."

"I've learned it doesn't matter where you go. Everyone is crazy in their own way. Even in this world." You said. "Some people just hide it better than others. And everyone has their own unique case of the crazies.

"Are you crazy?" He asked jokingly.

"Little bit." You replied off handedly. You glanced back up at him before giving him a quick grin and a wink. He started to laugh. As the conversation continued it changed to different topics and Edward finally seemed to relax; no longer seemed self-conscious and nervous. You had never spent this much time alone with Ed before. And during the short time spans that you had been alone with him, it wasn't like this. Something about this seemed so much more relaxed. More intimate even.

When you were done with the injuries on his torso you stood up and got a wet cloth from the bathroom before returning. Your crawled back on the bed and got behind him.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Cleaning the blood out of your hair and cleaning the cuts here." You answered.

"They're minor." He stated.

"Yes, but they still need to be cleaned. And I'm sure you don't want this blood to stay in your hair until the next time you bathe." You answered. "By the way, next time you do bathe I need to dress your wounds again so they stay clean."

"Isn't that the point of the bath?" He asked

"Yes, but if they aren't cleaned thoroughly or are still open and not scabbed over they can still get infected. Now stay still." You ordered as you started to gently clean the dry blood from his hair. You washed the area with one hand and with your free hand you were running your fingers through his hair. It wasn't even a way of trying to flirt or be seductive. It was just a way to try to get him to relax. And his hair also felt really soft, but if asked you weren't going to mention that part. You didn't realize how well that was actually working until you felt him lean back against you. He didn't even seem to notice when you cleaned the cuts on his head with the antiseptic. A small noise seemed to escape his lips but you had a hard time identifying it. As much as you wanted to continue running your fingers through his hair and as much as you enjoyed seeing the more relaxed side of Edward, you were done. All his wounds had been cleaned and taken care of. There was no real reason to continue except for the enjoyment of it. The thought caused a fluttering in your gut and chest that surprised you. A crush? No. That can't be. You barely knew the guy. And you weren't making plans to stick around. Once you found your way home you were taking it. You couldn't possibly have a crush. But then, why were you _still_ running your fingers through his hair? Why were you letting your touch linger a little more than what was necessary? Why was your heart racing and your stomach full of butterflies?

With more effort than you'd like to admit was needed, you pulled your hands from his hair and moved away. You started cleaning up the mess you'd made without a word. You threw the gauze away in the bathroom before washing your hands that smelled like the antiseptic. You tried not to look at him when you returned to the side of the bed to retrieve the remaining items. You felt his eyes watching you, causing awkwardness to rise up and make itself apparent in the room. You reached for the bandages on the bed but before you were able to grab them, Edward grabbed your arm. You froze and looked at him. His eyes watched your face and your expression, like he was searching for something in it.

"Thank you." He said.

"No problem." You said with a soft smile. He pulled lightly at your arm, causing you to move closer to him and back on the bed. You tried to keep a blush from creeping up into your face but the way it began to heat up told you that you were failing. You weren't sure what he was doing at first until he started to look at the bruise forming on your arm from earlier.

"You've been trying to take care of me but I never asked. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Thank you." You smiled gently. He scooted a little closer. He reached up and touched the side of your face. Your mind went insane with scenarios of what was about to happen. Mainly involving a heated kiss but you mentally slapped yourself to chase the images away. _Two weeks. I don't even really know him._ You thought but that logic seemed to be pushed aside.

"I saw them slam your head into the table. Are you sure you're okay?" He asked while turning your head to see the side that had come into contact with the table.

"It's fine. Maybe a little sore. But nothing to worry about." He pulled his hand away from your face, and pulled your arm closer before grabbing your hand and looking at the ring on your finger. That's it? No quick, suave movements, taking you into his arms and laying one on you? Wait, that's what you were _afraid_ would happened. Then why were you feeling slightly disappointed?

"So what's so special about this ring that it was worth getting hurt for? Are you engaged or something?" He asked.

"No. It belonged to my grandmother. My grandfather gave it to her as a promise ring. She gave it to my mom, who gave it to me when I turned sixteen." You explained.

"Is that supposed to indicate something in your own relationship or just a type of coming of age gift?"

"My own relationship? As in a boyfriend?" You questioned.

"Well, yeah. I guess like a boyfriend. Like did they give it to you when you reached a certain status in that relationship or something?" He said a little too nonchalantly. Wait… was this his way of figuring out if you had someone back home? That's how it seemed, though the logic of the question didn't make much sense.

"Ha. That would mean I'd have to stay in a relationship for more than two weeks for that to happen." You said with a scoff. He looked at you questioningly. "I don't do well in relationships. Either most guys find me intimidating, or I just kind of panic and back out before a relationship even begins. My grandmother is afraid I'm going to die alone and unmarried." You said with a light, awkward chuckle.

"I doubt that'll happen." Ed said. "Besides, what real man would be intimidated by you?" He smirked.

"Oh really? And what kind of 'real men' are you talking about?" You asked with a cocked brow.

"Well, real men like me of course. You don't intimidate me." He said confidently.

"Really? So it wasn't intimidation that got you to strip down half naked despite your initial unwillingness to do so? I guess you were just letting me believe that I could get you do that." You smirked. He mumbled something as what looked like a blush came across his face, but you didn't quite catch what he had said. "What was that?"

"I was just being cooperative. Intimidation had nothing to do with it." He said with a casual wave of his hand. His pride and stubbornness, though frustrating at times, could also be quite funny. You couldn't help but hold back a laugh. You grinned and rolled your eyes. Such a boy. When you looked back at him, he was staring again. You were half tempted to put a bag over his head to keep those eyes from seemingly invading your thoughts. But a bag would cover those striking golden eyes and that handsome face and—STOP right there. That's where that train of thought needs to stop.

He maintained a loose grip of your hand, so loose it seemed more like a caress than a hold. He searched your face again. What was he looking for? His stare made you fidget. What were you supposed to do? What wouldn't make this situation feel more awkward? Why was he still staring? Whatever he was thinking about was interrupted by the unmistakable clanking of Al's armor. As he approached the door Edward released your hand and reached for his undershirt and put it back on before doing the same with his over shirt. Alphonse opened the door, an atmosphere of annoyance quickly filling the room. Even without facial features it was easy to tell.

"What's wrong, Al?" Ed questioned.

"After giving them _my_ statement and wasting my time, they tell me my statement is useless and they need yours." Al told his brother.

"Are you serious?" Ed groaned. "Those jerks. I guess I'll be back in a little while." He mumbled as he grabbed his red coat and headed towards the door. 

Edward was fuming as he left the police station. When he arrived, the officer at the front desk said they didn't know what he was talking about; they already had his brother's statement, and didn't need his. They were obviously lying. As Ed left the station he heard a roar of laughter coming from inside. It was decided, they'd be catching the first train out of this damn town. As he made his way back to the hotel, he became aware that he was not alone, despite the appearance of empty streets. The person following him didn't seem bother hiding this fact. With an annoyed sigh, Ed stopped and turned around.

"Is there something I can help you with?" He growled. A tall man, in a dark trench coat, wearing a fedora hat, came to a halt. He lifted the hat away from his face and gave Edward a sharp toothed grin. He walked closer to Edward and came to a stop in front of him. Ed was already in a bad mood, and the man's grin did nothing to repress the urge of knocking his teeth in.

"You're Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, correct?" He asked.

"Depends. Who's askin'?" Ed asked with a sneer. The man just chuckled.

"You're being deceived, my friend." Ed looked at him questioningly. "That young woman travelling with you, she is not who she claims to be."

"What are you babbling on about?" Edward was losing his patience.

"Who does she claim herself to be?"

"I don't think that's any of your damn business." Ed barked.

"Oh, but I believe it is. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Nicolas Strain, a private investigator. I've had run-ins with this woman before. Every time she shows up she is living under a different identity, a different city, with a different crowd of people surrounding her as her 'friends', and even sometimes, in a different country. I don't know what identity she has undertaken this time or what she has done to catch your attention, but I can tell you that she is not who she claims to be."

"And exactly why are you telling me this? What business do you have with her? Is she wanted for something?"

"You could say that. I tell you this to hopefully spare you any trouble you might come across because of her. I promise that as long as she is around, trouble will follow. She is wanted for matters that do not concern you." Strain said.

"Then why don't you just get her yourself?"

"I'm afraid I must have more tact than that." He grinned. "I've told you all you need to know. Whatever action you take is your own decision. Just remember to think about the consequences." He said as he turned and walked away.

Ed watched the man's retreating back before turning around and continuing on his way. He tried to brush off what the man had said. But at the same time, questions began building up in his mind. What if the man was telling the truth? By keeping this girl around, was he potentially putting his brother and himself in danger? And what did she have to gain from all of this? Was she looking for the Philosopher's Stone as well? Was she just trying to get close to Edward so she could get in good with some of the higher ranking officers of the military?

Before he knew it, he was in front of his hotel room door. He was surprised to see his hand was shaking as he reached for the door knob. What was he going to say? What was he going to do? He opened the door, finding his brother and Alley sitting on the couch. Alphonse was teaching her a little more about alchemy. They both looked up at him when the door opened.

"That was fast." Alphonse noted.

"Yeah… they… didn't really need my statement." He said softly.

"What? You mean they called you down there for nothing?" Al asked, quite annoyed.

"Yeah." Ed replied quietly. He looked off to the side, not really looking at the two sitting on the couch. But they were watching him.

"Is something wrong, Edward?" You asked. His eyes darted to you and you couldn't help but feel a bit chilled at the cold stare. What was wrong with him?

"Who are you?" He asked so quietly you almost didn't hear him.

"Wh-What?" It was if your shock and hesitance was a sign.

"Who are you?" His voice took on a fiercer tone as his eyes pinned you down.

"I…I don't understand." You said and looked to Alphonse, who seemed just as confused.

"Don't play dumb! Who are you, really!"

"You already know that. I told you-"

"Liar! You really expect me to believe such a story? I was stupid to let you come along with us in the first place!" He yelled.

"Ed… I-" He wouldn't even let you explain or even ask what had brought any of this on.

"Don't! I don't want to hear any more lies. I already put Al and I in danger by letting you come along this far. I don't know what you had hoped to accomplish with all of this, and by putting that mark on your back, but I don't care. I was a fool to believe you. Now leave!" You sat their quietly for a few moments and just stared at him. What had brought this on, you weren't sure. But you didn't really have a choice.

"Okay. I'm sorry for any trouble I've caused either of you." You said softly as you stood up. You walked to the corner of the room and picked up your bag. You walked to the door and stopped to stand next to Edward, facing away and not looking at him. "If someone were to lie to you for whatever reason, I would hope they would be able to come up with something a little more believable that what I've told you. I don't know what makes you think I'm lying; I understand it's a very farfetched story, but I respect your decision. Thank you for helping me this far." You looked at Alphonse. "I wish you luck on your journey. Both of you." You finally looked at Edward who refused to meet your gaze. "Good bye, Mr. Elric." The door shut lightly behind you, leaving the brothers in the tension filled room.

"You idiot! What are you doing?" Alphonse yelled.

"Shut up, Al! I'm looking out for our safety!" Edward snapped back.

"Safety? What are you talking about? She wasn't going to hurt us!"

"You don't know that!"

"What in the world makes you think she was lying to us? Even the Lieutenant Colonel thinks she's telling the truth! And who would actually make up a story like that and expect for it to be believed unless they were telling the truth?"

"Look, what's done is done! Okay!" Ed snapped, hoping to end the conversation right there. Al resisted the urge to pick up his brother and shake some sense into him.

"Agh! Why are you so stupid sometimes?" Al shouted. "Why do you suddenly think she's lying?"

"Look, I was approached by a detective who said he's seen her before and she is lying about who she is."

"So you believe some stranger over her? And take his word over the Lieutenant Colonel's?" Alphonse seethed. "You do understand how incredibly stupid that sounds?"

"Not as stupid as believing _her_ story!"

"If it's such an obviously stupid story, why did you believe her in the first place? And why would anyone actually make something so unbelievable up?"

"I don't know! I just…" Ed trailed off as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Here." Al said as he threw something to Edward. He unfolded it and realized it was your jacket. "Find her and give that to her. And try to actually talk to her and let her talk this time!"

"But-"

"Go!" Al yelled.

You left the hotel and fought back tears that threatened to fall. There went the only friends you had here. You couldn't blame Ed, though. Your story was a bit out there. And he was just trying to look out for his brother. But just because you couldn't blame him, didn't mean it didn't hurt. You walked through the town, not really sure as to where you were going or what you planned to do. What now? You had no money, no home, and no friends. You had nothing. You were completely and utterly alone. You couldn't help yourself as you started to cry at the thought. You just wanted to go home. You missed your family, your friends, your house, even your small mainly redneck town. You had no idea how to get home or even where to begin to look. You felt like you'd be stuck here forever.

"Miss, why are you crying?" A soft voice came from behind as a hand came to rest on your shoulder. You looked to your side to see a young man, tall with brown hair and blue eyes looking at you sympathetically.

"It's nothing." You managed to say.

"Are you all right?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you." You managed to give him a weak smile before beginning to walk away.

"Are you a traveler?" The young man asked as he quickened his pace to walk beside you.

"Sort of." Was your simple reply. You really just wanted this guy to go away.

"If you have nowhere to stay, my uncle owns an inn just around the block." He suggested.

"Thank you. But I don't have any money."

"That's okay, I'm sure we could work something out." Okay, _that_ sounded really sketchy. You stopped.

"I really appreciate what you're offering, but I'll have to decline." You said politely.

"Oh, well that's too bad." He said. Red sparks shot from his head and trailed down his body, leaving behind a new appearance. You stood shocked at the new image in front of you. A man with long spiky dark green hair, purple eyes, and black shorts with a black shirt that cut off at his ribs. "You're not getting much of a choice!" His voice changed as well, it was much raspier. He grabbed you by the arm and tossed you into a nearby alley. You were met with two others, a full figured woman with long black hair and a rather obese man with empty eyes. You stepped back only to back into the shape shifter's chest. "Where do you think you're going, my little sacrifice?"

Edward walked through the streets of the small town. Like hell he was going to find her just to give her a stupid jacket that she left. And like hell was he going to apologize and ask her to stay! Al knew him better than that! What makes him think he'd actually try in getting that liar to stay with them? She's a liar who will only deceive them and hinder their search. Why she had those markings on her back he didn't know and now he didn't care. She must be pretty sick though to go through all that just to trick him and his brother.

_And to think… I almost kissed her!_ Ed thought and grabbed the sides of his head in annoyance. _How could I have been so stupid as to fall for that! To fall for her!_ Wait… what? Fall for her? That didn't happen. He just came close to kissing her is all. That was it. Yeah… Fuck. Whatever. All he had to do was stay for a little longer to make Al think he'd tried to look for her. In about another half hour he'd head back, say he didn't find her and put all of this behind—what was that? Edward's train of thought was interrupted by something coming from an alleyway he was approaching. Muffled words, whispered threats. Great, he was about to come across a typical mugging. Well, at least he'd get to kick someone's ass tonight; a very therapeutic way to handle this stress. He decided to first assess the situation; know what condition the victim was in, how many assailants there were, if they were armed, how big they were. What he didn't expect to see was Alley, being held against the wall by Gluttony while Envy was…. What the fuck was the creep doing?

_Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! _Nothing but vulgarities and panic went through your mind. The rather obese man holding you up by your jaw, effectively silencing you as his palm covered your mouth, and keeping your pinned to the brick wall behind you. The woman stood behind him with a sly grin on her face. And the other one of the group decided it would be appropriate to have his hand up the back of your shirt. You didn't know how this man had changed his form and you didn't want to know. You just wanted to be let down and let go. The guy with the long spiky green hair ordered Tubby to let you down. He dropped you to the ground and before you could move you were pulled back up, spun around, and shoved into the brick. Green Guy pulled the back of your shirt up and studied the markings.

"Oh yes." He said while running his fingers along your back. "This is the one we were told about. It's the right one, alright."

"What do you want with me?" You managed to grunt out.

"Don't you worry about that. " He said with a wicked grin. Shit. What could you do? You couldn't run, you couldn't fight them off. What were they going to do to you? It had something to do with the tattoo. Were they going to kill you? How did they even find out about this? Did… did Edward or Alphonse tell them? Did they help plan this? Fuck, of course they did. What other explanation could there be? You felt so stupid; you resisted the urge to bang your head on the brick wall in front of you.

The bricks suddenly shot out in three different places, each place aimed for your assailants. The shape shifting guy was knocked away, as well as the fat guy allowing you some temporary freedom. Before you could comprehend what had just happened or even react you were yanked away from the wall and back towards the street. All you saw was a red jacket and blonde hair. Edward? Wait, why was he helping you? Wasn't he the reason this was happening in the first place? Your head told you to stop, that this was probably a trap, but your body didn't listen and kept running. Well, until you were thrown to the ground. You didn't see much but you were pretty sure Edward was kicked in the back before tossed across the ground.

"Well, hello pipsqueak." The green haired man said with a grin. "Didn't expect to see you here. I was sure I'd convinced you to go about more important matters."

"Envy, you lying sack of shit!" Edward barked as he got to his feet. You had gotten to your knees but completely froze when you felt razor sharp blades at the back of your neck.

"Edward… what is going on?" Your voice shook slightly as you spoke.

"Just let her go. She's of no use to you." Ed told the group.

"Now who's the liar? We know all about her. We actually know more about her than she even knows. She's a very valuable resource and we don't intend to let her go." Envy smirked. "Gluttony, make sure she doesn't run off." He gestured to the obese one. Gluttony approached you and the daggers at your neck retracted as you were brought to your feet.

"Take your hands off of her!" Ed shouted. You began to struggle but Gluttony was much stronger than you. Edward clapped his hands together; a blue light came enveloped his right arm as he moved his left hand around it. The automail you had seen before hand suddenly gained a blade. Ed charged at Envy who, with a shocking amount of speed, jumped out of the way. Envy went after Edward. Ed managed to jump back, dodging a few kicks and punches before he was knocked to the ground once again. The woman shot out her hand, her fingers extending into long daggers and stopping right at his neck. A bead of blood formed at one of the dagger points and dripped down his neck.

You weren't sure what it was that caused it. Something just took over. Maybe it was because Edward was in danger. But before you knew what you were doing, you'd clapped your hands together just like Edward, and positioned them on either side of you. Transmutation circles and formulas ran through your mind, and for some reason, you understood what they meant. The walls extended, closing in and squashing Gluttony enough that you were released from his grip. Envy and the other woman turned around, annoyance clear on their face when they spotted you. "Lust, grab her!" Envy ordered the woman. She came at you, extending her nails towards you. It took over again, and you motioned to put your hands together, but before you could transmute anything, she had stopped and the nails were positioned over Ed's heart. During this pause, Gluttony broke loose. Ed was forced to a stand-still. If he moved to try to help you, he'd died. If he didn't, you'd die. He glared at the sinful troupe; they always played dirty.

"Make sure you keep her hands apart this time!" Envy growled. And once again, there you were, being restrained by fatty ding dong. What did all this accomplish again? Envy sauntered over to you.

"So, how exactly did you just manage to pull that little transmutation off?" He asked. You only glared at him in reply. "I'm sorry. I didn't make myself clear enough." He slapped you hard across the face. You tasted blood in your mouth. "Now how did you transmute without a circle?" He yelled. Your response was to spit on his face. The reaction you expected: anger, disgust, maybe another slap to the face. The reaction you got: burning skin, crying out in pain, and confusion. Lots of confusion. Did you just spit acid?

"What the hell was that?" Lust growled out. "Gluttony, put that thing down, now!" You were released.

"No! Don't let her get away!" Envy yelled. Gluttony wasn't exactly sure what to do. He apparently decided to follow the boobs and backed away and towards Lust. "You idiot!" Envy yelled before turning towards you. "What the hell was that?" He stomped towards you. In panic you clapped your hands, hit the wall, transmuted a makeshift sharp object and held it out. Wait… was it your blood? And these things… weren't human. Whatever it was could be thought about later. You would go with the blood acid and see where that took you. You cut your hand with the make-shift blade and slung the blood at Envy. Just like before, it burned him. He grabbed his face in pain only to quickly pull his hand away as the blood burned his hand at the contact. "You bitch." He seethed. "I'll get you for this!" He threatened before he and his crew of freaks quickly retreated.

Edward stared at you in shock. You would have noticed if you weren't too busy staring at your bloody hand and wondering what the hell just happened.

"Alley?" He called softly.

"What… what _am_ I?" was your only response. Edward walked over and stood in front of you, taking your hand, and touching the blood. "What are you doing!" You yelled and yanked your hand away. "Are you crazy! You saw what it just did to-"

"It didn't do a thing to me." He stated and showed you his normal, non-burned skin. "Whatever is in your body that connects you to the stone, harms homunculi. To humans, it's fine. But to creatures created by alchemy, it's like acid. That's the only explanation I can think of." He stated.

"What… what the fuck?" You asked. "What the hell just happened? What were those things? Why can't I just go home?"

"I'm sorry. This is our fault. We dragged you into this." He said solemnly while looking down at the ground. You sighed.

"No. I agreed to go with you. It's not your fault. It's just… fuck. Whatever. I'll figure all this out at another time." You mumbled. You headed out of that horrible alleyway and towards the street, grabbing your abandoned bag on the way.

"Oh, you forgot this." Ed picked your jacket from off the ground that he'd dropped when he'd tried to save you the first time.

"Thanks. " You took the jacket, looked at it, then at your hand, and proceeded to wipe the blood off of your hand and on to your jacket. "I'll have to worry about cleaning it later." You mumbled to yourself. You grabbed his hand and wiped the blood off of his fingers. "Thanks for helping me. If you hadn't shown up… I'm not sure what would have happened, but I'm sure it would have been bad."

"No problem. I'm… sorry. For not believing you and for telling you to leave and… well, all the things I said." Ed apologized. You just smiled softly.

"It's ok. I understand." You said kindly. "Thank you for your hospitality, Edward Elric." You said with a curt nod before turning around to walk away.

Edward stood baffled. He didn't understand. Didn't "I'm sorry" and "It's ok" translate into "You can still travel with us" and "I'd love to."?

"Wait, where are you going?" He asked. You stopped and shrugged.

"Don't know really. Where ever I end up is where I'm going."

"But… don't you know that those things will just come after you again? They see you as a resource now! They'll just attack you again and use you!"

"I figured that much. But I can take care of myself." You smirked.

"They're much stronger than you think! They aren't human!"

"I've figured that one out too. Whether their stronger than me or not, if they're going to continue to cause trouble because of me, it's better if I'm alone. Then no one else will be harmed because of me." You smiled sadly and turned away again, and began to walk away from Edward. He stood there for a few seconds as you walked away. The words sinking in. Preferring to be alone, to have no one to help you if you're attacked, just so that no one else would get hurt. He shook the thought away.

"Hey!" He called after you. "Wait!" He ran after you when you didn't stop. What was the point? There was an obvious lack of trust. Yes, now he believed you. Again. But how long until you would be questioned again? But you couldn't blame him. What reason did he have to trust you? And if those… things really would come after you, then you didn't want to put the Elrics in anymore harm or cause them anymore trouble. They have enough of their own problems to worry about.

Ed grabbed your wrist, forcing you to a stop. He pulled you close; the unexpected action and the weight of your back pack shifting causing you to stumble. An arm wrapped around you as your face landed in his chest. An arm around your waist, a hand that crept from your wrist to your hand. You couldn't stop the blush that reached your face or the way your heart sped up. You lifted your face to look up at him only to have a pair of lips immediately cover yours. You were too shocked to move at first. Your first kiss. Not exactly how you had imagined it. But at the same time, it felt like that's how it was supposed to happen. For a few long awkward seconds you didn't react. Edward almost pulled away, fearing he'd made a mistake in thinking there was a mutual want of the kiss. Before he could pull away and profusely apologize, you wrapped your free arm around his neck and kissed him back. He tilted his head slightly; his tongue sticking out just a little and touching your lips, timidly asking for permission to take this kiss further. Chills ran down your spine as you granted him permission. His tongue found yours. It was a bit sloppy, and kind of clumsy. You wondered if this was his first kiss as well. Either way, it still felt nice. Breathing soon became an issue so you both pulled away. You tried to hide the fact that you were panting for air; it felt as if that kiss took your breath away. It sounded like a country song. You couldn't deny that the kiss made your body temperature rise. Sixteen and just now had your first kiss. You then realized you'd been missing out. Or was it… just because it was Ed? No, you just met the guy. That couldn't be it. Just hormones. Plain and simple. You pulled back to put just a little more distance between you.

"Is this how you usually try to get your way?" You asked with a smirk.

"First time with this method. But is it working?" He asked with a flirtatious grin.

"Maybe just a little bit." You smiled as you leaned up to kiss him again.


	4. Difficult Questions, Bitter Truths

A/N: So this one isn't as long as the last one, but I didn't post in December and feel kind of bad about it. Chapter 5 will be posted relatively soon, like in the next couple of weeks, and hopefully will be at a satisfactory length. I apologize for the wait. Also, I've thought about changing the point of view to maybe first or third. What do you think? If you want to let me know your thoughts on that, please message me. Either way, chapter 4.

* * *

You woke with a start; your heart was racing and you were covered in a cold sweat. You shot forward as panic swept through you. You looked around at your surroundings as you clutched at your racing heart and tried to steady your erratic breathing.

_I'm fine. Everything is fine. I'm in the hotel room._ You told yourself. You looked over at the sleeping Elrics. They were still there. You weren't alone. It was all just a bad dream. _No. That wasn't just a dream._

"Alison?" Al's voice cut through the silence like a sharp knife, startling you. "Are you all right?" He asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine." You tried to assure him. The suit of armor moved; standing up and walking to the space that separated Ed's bed and your own. "Alphonse… do you sleep?" You asked softly. He was quiet for a moment.

"Well… sort of. I can't physically sleep, but I've learned to let my mind rest by going into a deep meditative state." He replied. "My mind can rest but I can still remain alert to certain disturbances."

"I see. I'm sorry if I disturbed you." You said apologetically. Alphonse sat down, rather roughly on the side of his brother's bed; the sudden addition in weight causing Ed's body to bounce off the bed.

"Huh? What? What's going on?" Ed nearly jumped out of his bed. He looked around, confused as to what was happening.

"Are you sure you're all right." Alphonse asked, ignoring his slightly startled brother. You looked down at your hands and stayed quiet for a few moments. Ed immediately caught on that something was bothering you, and Alphonse wanted him to be aware of it. Hence, the sudden awakening. Ed turned to sit on the edge of his bed without a word and waited for you to answer his brother.

"I remember everything." You said quietly. "About how I came here."

"You remember passing through the Gate?" Alphonse asked.

"Not just that. Even everything before I fell unconscious. I thought I had passed out, but I remember now. My head was killing me. And I went into the garage and went to unlock the door to my house. And then my head started pounding and there was this high pitched ringing in my ears and it felt like my ears were bleeding." You put your hands to the sides of your head, recalling the pain you had felt. "I collapsed. My head was spinning and my back started to get hot, like I was being burned. I managed to raise my arm enough to pull on the door knob and lean my weight onto it enough to open. I was able to crawl into the hallway leading to the garage. My back felt like it was on fire. I could barely move; the pain was unbearable. I started feeling sick to my stomach. The burning sensation from my back enveloped my entire body. Every muscle, nerve, vein, bone, and tissue was on fire. I was certain I was about to die. Then I began vomiting. It wouldn't stop. I could barely see anything, my vision was so blurred. I threw up more than I knew was in my stomach. When I was finally able to stop, I looked down and…" The brothers noticed how your hands started shaking uncontrollably. "There was blood… everywhere. I'd been throwing up my blood. And I felt blood flowing from my ears and my nose. There was so much blood... So much that I was able to know that there was no way I could be alive from losing so much. It covered the floors, covered my hands and my clothes… And then, as I lay there, staring at this puddle of blood… an eye appeared in my blood. It seemed to just twist out and make itself known. It was black and emotionless. All I could do was stare at it, horrified. A void seemed to open up around it, and these long, black arms reached out from it. As the hands touched me, I watched my body seem to disintegrate. I was pulled into the void. But the void wasn't black on the inside like it had been on the outside. It was white and I felt myself travelling through this tunnel thing. I felt my mind being bombarded with so much information I thought my head would burst. I couldn't fight the current I was travelling on. But the tunnel ended at a large door. I looked around and the tunnel was gone and I was surrounded by nothing. Just an endless white void. I looked at myself. The blood on my clothing and my body was gone. The pain was gone. I was actually quite positive I had died. The door opened slowly. I couldn't see what was inside, but without my consent my body began to move forward. I stepped into the darkness. The pain on my back resurfaced and I fell to my knees. A light enveloped me and when it faded, I was in the woods. I realized my bag was still with me. It had been on my shoulders the entire time, and I guess that's how it made it through the Gate with me. The next thing I remember was finding the strength to shrug the heavy thing off before falling over." You brought your hands to your lap, tugging at your pajama pants. You opened your mouth to continue but nothing came out but a choked sound. Tears formed in your eyes. As embarrassed as you were to be crying in front of the Elric brothers, they didn't say anything to make you feel worse. "I'm worried about my family." You managed to say. "Surely they found that pool of blood. They probably think I was brutally murdered or something. I don't know how I'm still alive… but I just wish I could let them know that I'm okay."

The weight on the bed shifted slightly as Ed moved to sit down next to you. Hesitantly, he placed a hand on your back; a gesture that was meant to be comforting but it did little to do so. Still, the sentiment was appreciated.

"Dammit…I'm sorry." You said as you wiped the tears from your eyes. You rarely ever cried in front of someone. You'd grown up with boys, and hearing 'cry baby' whenever you started to cry over something as a child, conditioned you to never let people see you cry. It had been ingrained in you as a display of weakness. "I'm acting like a big baby." You said with an attempt at a smile.

"There's nothing to be sorry about. You're upset and worried about your family. It's okay." Alphonse replied, trying to comfort you.

"I know. I just… I hate crying. I feel like a big cry baby when I do." You said as you wiped away any remaining tears. "I grew up with a lot of boys, and of course if you cry in front of young boys they'll tease you and call you a cry baby. So at a young age I was taught to never cry in front of people and to always keep up this strong image. So I don't cry in front of people because I feel that I appear weak when I do. Not to mention it leaves me with a horrible headache. It's just best to avoid the action all together." You said with a light laugh, making an attempt to lighten the situation.

"Alison…" Al started, worry clear in his voice.

"I'm fine. I'm sorry. I shouldn't be upset. I know I'll get back. Everything will be okay." You said with a smile that you hoped didn't look as fake as is felt. "I'm sorry for waking the both of you. We should go back to sleep, considering the early train we have to catch in the morning." You said, making it clear that you didn't want to discuss the matter any further.

* * *

That following morning...

The earliest train out of that horrible town was at eight o'clock in the morning. The three of you boarded the train that morning and left that town behind. You felt like maybe you would like to sleep, but you couldn't manage to do so. Not to mention the seats were far too uncomfortable to fall asleep without waking up with an aching back or neck.

"What?" You'd caught Ed staring at you, looking a tad bit confused.

"Your clothes; I've never really seen a style like that before." He said.

"What? Does it look weird?" You asked pulling at your shirt and looking at your attire.

"No, it looks…um… good. I've just not seen a style like that before."

"Well, I made the outfit myself. When Gracia bought me some clothes, I honestly couldn't find much that was appealing to me. And this morning I just decided to use alchemy to make my own. I know enough about making clothing and used influences of fashion from my world." You explained.

"Speaking of alchemy…" Ed started. "We should probably discuss about what happened last night." He said, looking serious.

When you and Ed had returned to the hotel, not much was said about what happened. At least not to you. Al was immediately concerned, taking note of the mark on your cheek and your bleeding hand. When you were in the bathroom cleaning yourself up, you heard Ed and Al talking, but didn't pay much attention to what it was about. You were fairly sure Ed was telling him about what had happened.

"We've come to believe that the only ones that can transmute without a circle are those who have seen or been through the Gate. You remember now about coming through it." Ed said.

"I think it was the fight that triggered the memories. Or at least allowed them to be released and come back to me in that dream. I suppose it was a matter of preservation that caused it." You told them.

"That would make sense. But… there's a few other things I'm curious about." He began. "You've had no previous knowledge of how alchemy works, so how do you think you are suddenly this good at it?" He asked.

"I'm not entirely sure. What I remember from the Gate is having my mind filled with what seemed like an infinite amount of knowledge. When you started to show and teach me alchemy, I felt like I already knew it. But I couldn't access the knowledge. I know it sounds strange, but when I transmuted during the fight with those…things, I suddenly knew the right circles to use, the right formulas, the make-up of the wall. And now, when I look at something and decide to transmute it, I know what to use. I honestly don't know any other way to explain." You told them. "But despite my sudden knowledge of this science, I believe I should still research and practice it instead of just relying on sudden bits of knowledge." The boys nodded in agreement. It would do you no good to get overconfident in your abilities and then in another fight, your mind going blank and having nothing to go on.

"Another thing, they said you were a valuable resource, and I assume they were referring to the circle on your back. How they gained knowledge of it, I'm not sure. But I'm also curious about your blood." You knew that topic was coming up. You lowered your eyes and looked at the wound on your hand.

"I have no idea." You said softly. "I was just as shocked as you were. And your assumptions last night aren't any different than what I could come up with. But I have a question." You looked at them. "What the hell were those things?"

"They're… called homunculi. They're creatures created by alchemy; artificial humans. But they're much stronger than humans, and appear to be immortal and nearly indestructible." Edward explained. "We've had run-ins with them before. They're interested in us because of our research."

"So, since I possibly have a connection to the Philosopher's Stone, they're interested in me?" You asked. Ed nodded. "And they'll be back, won't they?"

"They'll bide their time. And they'll plan. I don't know when or where…but, yes. They will be back." Ed said solemnly.

"And they'll find me no matter where I am, correct?"

"More than likely."

"So… no matter where I go, I'm not safe." Ed nodded.

"I'm sorry… We got you involved in our mess." He apologized.

"There's nothing to be sorry about. You both gave me fair warning when you offered to let me come along. I knew the risks and chose to do so anyways. Besides, I believe I have an advantage, wouldn't you agree?" You said with a smirk as you showed your bandaged palm and wiggled your fingers.

"You seem to be taking this well." Al said, seeming a bit surprised at your optimism and acceptance of the situation. You shrugged.

"There's really no other way to take it. If I get mad or scared or upset, what will that accomplish? All I can do is accept it and try to be prepared for the next encounter." You replied. "In times of trouble, I can't waste time feeling sorry for myself or wishing things were different. Doing that gets nothing done and in the end nothing will have changed. But if I accept it, and expect the worst, and take action, I have a chance to change the outcome, perhaps even making it come out in my favor."

* * *

Central really was a nice city. Growing up in a small town, there wasn't much around. You'd been to large cities before, but never really got to enjoy them like you did here. Instead of staying with the Hughes family, the three of you stayed in a rather nice hotel that had special boarding for State Alchemists. The room the three of you stayed in was a suite and had separate bedrooms, so you were able to have your own room. It was just a normal hotel suite, nothing extravagant. It wasn't like a penthouse suite after all.

* * *

The monster let out a deep growl, demanding it be fed immediately, or else those around it suffer.

"Ed…" Al said with a sigh. "Go get something to eat."

"M'fine." Ed grunted out, sounding grumpy. Possibly from not having eaten for several hours.

"I can manage on my own. Go get something to eat. And you should take Alison too. I'm sure she hasn't eaten since you either." Al said. "Besides, when the library closes in a few hours, most of the restaurants around here will be too." Ed grumbled something under his breath. "Just go." Al said with a little more bite as he picked his brother up and shoved him along towards the door. Al sighed. Why did his brother have to make things so difficult? All he was trying to do was look after him… and maybe perhaps by some chance get him to interact with someone around his age of the opposite sex other than Winry. Edward could be so antisocial. Al was more social than he was, and he was in a huge suit of armor, giving off an atmosphere of intimidation.

Edward had walked back to the hotel. It had been a couple of weeks since the incident in the last town. And also the kiss he shared with Alley. They hadn't kissed since, but would catch one watching the other every so often; quickly looking away as a light blush appeared on their cheeks. He wouldn't deny (at least not to himself) that the kiss had been very enjoyable and he wouldn't mind experiencing it again. It was his first kiss as an adolescent. Kissing Winry on a dare when he was eight hardly counted as a first kiss. Especially with the dramatic spitting and wiping of the mouth that usually accompanies an eight year old boy getting kissed by a girl. Ed didn't spend that much time around Alley when they were in Central as they had been the past couple weeks. Or at least not as much time as Gracia and the Lieutenant Colonel probably did. She had taken a liking to the Hughes family and they had of her. So quite a bit of time was spent at their home. Edward and Alphonse were usually busy in the library or helping out around head quarters. Sometimes the brothers would go a full day without seeing Alley; coming home late after being forced out of the library when the librarians were sick of sticking around past closing for them again, and she would be asleep in her room. Sometimes if they came home late she would still be up, reading usually. And even though they seemed to neglect her and would leave for head quarters without a word in the morning, she never said anything. She never complained or seemed upset. When they returned they were always greeted with a smile and a genuine interest in how their research had gone.

When Ed returned to the hotel room he found you on the couch with a notebook, sketching something. You looked up and smiled.

"Where's Al?" You asked.

"He's still at the library. He kind of kicked me out." Ed said with a lop-sided grin.

"What for? What did you do?" You asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing!" he said, seeming offended. "Why do you assume I did something?"

"Because that seems to usually be the case." You said with a grin.

"He kicked me out because I hadn't eaten in awhile and he was tired of hearing my stomach growl." He said with a huff. "And… he said you probably hadn't eaten in awhile either." A light blush came to his cheeks. "So… do you wanna go grab something to eat?" He asked while rubbing the back of his head.

"Sure. Sounds good." You said with a smile.

"Man, Al was right. Most of the restaurants are closed by now." Ed grumbled.

"What about that one?" You suggested as you pointed at a place that still seemed to be open.

"I'm pretty sure that's a bar." Ed said.

"They probably serve food though. Some bars serve food." You replied. "And if they will allow minors in then I'm sure they have food."

"Minors? We're not minors." Ed said, giving you a strange look. "The legal age of an adult and for drinking in Amestris is sixteen. You're sixteen too, aren't you?"

"Why yes, yes I am." You said, a grin creeping across your face. "In my country the legal age of an adult is eighteen, and even then you can't legally drink until you're twenty-one. So why don't we indulge in an opportunity that I won't experience in my world for several more years and have a few drinks." You suggested as you grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the bar. Ed seemed a bit hesitant, not really having drank much before, but he couldn't make himself protest. Yes, he'd had a beer when he turned sixteen, Havoc, Breda, Fuery, and Falman basically forcing him to go to a bar the night of his birthday.

"Have you ever drank before?" Ed asked after the waitress came and took your food orders as well as your drink orders.

"Yeah. Just because the legal age is twenty-one doesn't mean it keeps people under that age from doing it anyways. I have to say I've never been drunk. I believe I've been a bit tipsy once before. But not drunk. I've had beer and wine and some harder stuff like whiskey. But not much." You told him.

The restaurant wasn't very busy, but it wasn't empty either. Music played in the background from the radio, a few guys who had had a little too much sat at the bar laughing loudly with each other. A few other groups scattered here and there sat amongst themselves and talked and laughed. The beers you were served came in large mugs, giving quite the generous serving. Around the end of the second beer, the food had been eaten and the plates taken away and you started to find yourself joking around with Edward more, teasing him a little even. And he took the teasing very well. You began to giggle more and your head felt a little light. But you were fine. That is until the third large mug of beer was served and you both decided to compete over who could finish their beer first. That had been a tie. So two more were ordered to break the tie. Oh, this would not end well. Much to your pride's displeasure, Edward had won. It was then you realized you were both very drunk.

"Hold on, hold on. Are you telling me, the one called Envy is a man?" You laughed as you spoke.

"Yeah, as far as those things go, he's a guy." Ed replied with a chuckle.

"Wasn't he wearing a skirt or something? I mean, his body I supposed looked manly. He was flat-chested and had some muscles to him. But his wardrobe says otherwise. And he sounded like a sixty year-old woman who has been smoking since she was five." You rested your forehead on your hand as you leaned on the table. "That guy has some serious gender role confusions." You sighed and smiled. "Well, since he can change his appearance at least he can play dress up as much as he wants." There was a short silence before the both of you started bursting into laughter at the thought.

Taking this giggle fest as a sign to leave before anymore alcohol was consumed, Ed paid the tab and the two of you walked… stumbled out.

"It's late. We should head back." Ed slurred his words slightly.

"Will it bother Al if we're slightly inebriated?" Your words were a bit slurred as well. Ed seemed to think for a moment before it dawned on him that if you both returned to the hotel right now, Al would discover quite quickly that the two of you had been drinking.

"Dammit!" He groaned.

"Would he really mind that much?" You asked. You hooked your arm with Ed and lightly leaned on him as the two of you walked, finding that he was sufficient in holding you steady. It was meant to be a platonic gesture; something you would do while walking with one of your close friends. But somewhere along the lines that was lost.

"I guess if it bothers him I'll just tell him it's your fault." He said with a sigh.

"My fault? How is this my fault?" You acted offended.

"You're the one that just _had_ to go to a bar." He said.

"You're the one who challenged me to a drinking contest!"

"And you're the one who agreed to it." He said with a smirk. You shoved him playfully, the act causing him to stagger a little. He laughed and came back next to you and put an arm around your neck, playfully. During the several weeks you'd been around Ed you'd never seen him like this. Granted he was drunk, but he seemed so much more relaxed. His laugh and smile seemed genuine and he seemed to really be enjoying himself. The playful arm around your neck fell to your shoulders, stayed there for a little bit, before falling to your waist. With the help of a little liquid courage Edward wrapped his arm around your waist and pulled you closer to his side. You looked up at him to find him staring at you. There in his eyes was something so familiar but at the same time foreign. Within only a few blurred moments you both had ducked down in an alley way. You found yourself pinned against the wall with an eager mouth against yours. Oh, how you'd been craving this over the past couple of weeks. His kisses tasted like beer, but you supposed yours did too. A warm tongue found yours; you brought your hands to his face and pulled him closer, if that was possible. His hands found your hips and pulled your body against his with so much evident lust and desire it made you gasp against his lips. You felt his lips turn up in a satisfied smirk and bit his lip in response before pulling away from the heated kiss. You attempted to catch your breath. The lack of oxygen mixing with the abundance of alcohol in your body making you light headed. You wrapped your arms around his neck, one hand weaving through his golden hair. You buried your face in the crook of his neck and began laughing.

"What's so funny?" He asked, sounding a bit out of breath himself.

"Everything is so unexpected with you. You always manage to surprise me." You chuckled. You sighed against the hot flesh of his neck, noticing the way it made him shiver. "It's nice." You whispered as you began to place light kisses along the side of his neck. Ed felt his body reacting and through the haze of the alcohol knew that the two of you needed to stop or it would be very difficult for him to do so later. It was too early in your…. Relationship? Could this be considered a relationship? Yes, Edward found you incredibly attractive, the growing bulge in his pants was evidence of that, and he found your personality attractive as well. You were smart, kind, funny, and you didn't seem to care about the state his body was in or Al's lack of one. You were accepting of everything. Even when he accused you of lying and told you to leave you accepted his decision and left with parting words of luck. Edward couldn't deny to himself that he was really beginning to grow feelings for you. Feelings that he'd never really felt before. It wasn't like a crush. It was different; more mature it seemed. But were the two of you in a relationship? As in dating, or boyfriend and girlfriend? How did you view this? What did you want? Was this just a physical thing, or something more than that? He didn't think you seemed like the type to just have a physical relationship with someone. But did he want a relationship? A better question; could he handle one right now? He barely saw you as it was. But then again, that didn't seem to bother you. Not to mention his goal to return his brother's body to him. Was there time for a relationship? So many questions ran through his inebriated mind as he realized he was thinking about this too much right now. Ed mentally shook the thoughts away. He'd think about it later, when he was sober. But right now, he needed you to stop that wonderful thing you were doing involving your tongue and his ear. That felt far too good. Doing something farther than this in a dark dirty alley way seemed inappropriate. So if he didn't stop this now, he'd find it incredibly difficult to do so very soon and would have an even more difficult time walking back to the hotel. He pulled back just enough to kiss you again, swiping his tongue against yours before pulling away. Even in the shadows of the night the blush on his face was visible.

"We really should head back. Before…." He trailed off, not really knowing of an appropriate way to say 'we need to stop because I'm getting a little too aroused and might not be able to walk back like this if we keep going.' But he didn't need to say anything. You just let out a light laugh. Your tongue darted out to lick your lips and shot him a look that wasn't intended to be seductive, but it in no means helped alleviate his current problem.

"All right, let's head back. Maybe we can pass as sober in front of Al." You said with a grin.

* * *

You woke up the next morning close to noon. Any chance of a hangover gone due to your youth and the gracious amount of sleep you were able to get. You made yourself presentable and walked out into the den. There you found Edward sitting on the couch reading a book. He looked over his shoulder when he heard your footsteps.

"Hey!" He said with a smile. "Wanna get some lunch?" He asked.

"Sure, but don't you have to be at work?" You asked.

"No, it's the weekend." He said.

"Oh. I guess since I haven't been in school I've begun to lose track of the days." You said with a sheepish grin. It was then when it hit you; you'd been gone for about a month now. You seemed to have adapted to all of this quite easily. It was actually a little unsettling. There was nothing wrong with being able to adapt to sudden changes, but this was a whole other ball game. You hadn't moved cross country and had to start over at a new school or move off to college and live away from home. No, you had been taken from your world by some unknown force and thrown into another while your family was left with no idea as to what happened. And what were you doing? Drinking at bars and going to lunch with a cute guy and sitting in a hotel room or wandering around town or spending time with a family you barely knew. You should be out looking for a way home. Not…getting this close.

It was hard to enjoy lunch with so many guilt-ridden thoughts going through your mind. You tried to pay attention to what Ed was saying, but your mind kept drifting to your own world; wondering how your family was doing and how you were going to get back home. You thought of Edward and Alphonse, of the Hughes family, and noticed how close you'd grown to these people in such a short amount of time. If you stayed, your feelings for them would only grow stronger… and that would just make leaving harder on not just you, but these people as well.

* * *

"Fullmetal, sir?" A young soldier approached Edward at the library. Ed looked up at the man from the large textbook he was reading. "Phone call from Colonel Mustang, sir. Booth number three on the east side of the library, sir."

"Thanks." Ed said with a sigh. The soldier saluted before going about his business. "Great, what does he want now?" Ed mumbled to himself. "I'll be right back Al." Alphonse waved dismissive hand in response, far too wrapped up in his own research.

"What do you want?" Ed asked bitterly as he spoke into the receiver.

"That's no way to speak to your commanding officer." The smug voice on the other end spoke.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm a bratty kid; I don't respect my superiors, blah blah blah. I'm busy, what do you want?" Ed spoke with disinterest and sarcasm.

"Are you planning on going anywhere sometime soon without telling me?" Mustang asked.

"Why would I? You've had me stuck here for two weeks doing paperwork! If you would leave me alone for five minutes I might be able to find a sufficient lead to actually follow up on!" Ed barked into the receiver.

"That's interesting. Hughes was just here and he told me that Gracia called earlier. She said that your young lady friend stopped by their house earlier. She thanked Gracia and said that she was leaving for awhile. Any idea what that's about?" The Colonel asked.

"No, but I'll let you know when I find out." Ed slammed down the receiver and ran to grab his brother.

By the time they made it to the hotel you were already gone. Nothing was missing except your belongings. On the coffee table was a note.

_Dear Edward and Alphonse,_

_I apologize for the rude and sudden departure. I'm afraid I cannot continue to travel with the two of you. I'm afraid that my presence and my current situation may hinder your goal. You have both been so wonderful and kind to me; the last thing I want to do is get in your way. I wish both of you good luck in your journeys. Thank you for all you have done for me. _

_Sincerely, _

_Alison Rigby_

_

* * *

_

You'd managed to make a little money doing a few repairs and chores with the help of alchemy around Central. With that money you were able to buy a ticket to somewhere up north.

"Where ya headin'?" An older woman sitting across the aisle from you asked. It took a few moments to register that she was speaking to you. The particular car you were in was fairly empty.

"Oh, I'm heading to…Dale." You said after taking a glance at your ticket. You hadn't really paid much attention to the location. You asked for the first train out of Central and it happened to be the small town of Dale.

"That's quite a ways from Central. Do you mind me asking why you're going?"

"Um… not really sure. It was kind of random." You said with a sheepish grin.

"I'm going to Dale to visit my cousin. He owns a clothing store there. He makes all of his merchandise himself. He does a wonderful job on the men's clothing but… well, he's an old man and doesn't really know what young women like you like to wear now a days. Your clothing seems pretty fashionable, maybe you could teach him a thing or two about women's fashion." The woman laughed. "May I ask where you bought your clothes?"

"Oh, I made these myself." You replied.

"Oh my! You did? How wonderful!" If this woman was any sweeter she'd give you a stomachache.

"Yeah. I actually use alchemy to change my clothing. If you know enough about making clothing and alchemy, it's very easy." You told her.

"Are you visiting Dale or planning to stay for awhile?" She asked.

"I'm not sure. Probably staying until I decide what to do next."

"Well then, I would love it if you met my cousin. If you can impress him with your skills I'm sure he'd give you a job!"

"Oh… Thank you. That's very kind of you." You said with a smile. You weren't exactly sure how to respond to this woman anymore. Back home you rarely encountered people like this; going out of their way to help someone else. She flashed one last smile before turning to her window.

"You better bundle up. Dale gets a lot of snow. Not as much as Briggs, but a generous amount. I bet you it will be snowing before we even get there!"

"Snow… that sounds nice." You murmured against your window, your hot breath creating a cloud of fog against it.

* * *

A/N: That's it for this chapter. The next one will be out fairly soon. Thank you for your patience!


	5. Hearts of Winter Pt 1

**A/N: Okay, this chapter was supposed to be longer, but it started getting too long and by the time I was done with it, it would've been around 30 pages on Word Document. So I'm breaking it up into 2 chapters so it's not as much to read, and at the same time the story is updated sooner. The 2****nd**** part is close to being done so if it's not out by the end of January it will be around early February. Reviews are appreciated. Hope you enjoy the first part of this chapter.**

**P.s. Don't own FMA unnecessary disclaimer.**

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* * *

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"Wake up, we're here." A gentle voice called to you as you were awoken from your slumber. You let out a soft groan and pushed yourself up from the seat. You looked over to see the woman you'd spoken to earlier standing in the aisle with a smile. "Did you sleep well?" She asked.

"Yeah, I suppose." You yawned and got up, grabbing your bag.

"I suppose it's difficult to get some decent rest on these trains. The seats aren't all too comfy either." She said with a chuckle. You followed her off the train and out of the small train station.

"Oh my! Look at all of this snow!" She exclaimed cheerfully. "I was right too! It did start snowing long before we reached Dale!" She put a gentle hand on your arm and ushered you away from the station. "Come on, now. We don't want to be out here for too long!" You followed her, not really knowing what else to do. The woman was very kind and knew where she was going, so you decided to let her lead you through the town.

She stopped in front of a building. A sign above the entrance simply read 'Lawson's' painted in a dark green with a white background. In the windows stood mannequins dressed in formal men's clothing. You'd actually forgotten about her cousin she spoke of until now. She peered into the store and saw a light on in the back before knocking loudly. A few moments later a figure approached the door. You heard the clicks of the locks before the door was opened, the bell at the top of the door letting out a ring.

"Well, hello Jennifer!" An old man stepped into the light the street light posts provided. He was of average height, with white hair and a white moustache. He wore a pair of dark slacks, a white button down shirt with a vest that matched his slacks. A pair of rectangular glasses rested on the bridge of his nose.

"Oh, Thomas! It's good to see you!" The woman said happily as she moved forward to hug her cousin. "I've brought a guest." She said with a smile. She placed her hand against your back and pushed you closer to the door so the man could see you. He looked you up and down, not entirely sure of his cousin's new friend.

"Let's not stand out in the cold all night! Come in!" He said as he walked back into his store. Jennifer pushed you in ahead of her before shutting the door behind her. Was this really a good idea? Alone, in a dark room, with two complete strangers? "So, who is this young woman?" Thomas asked his cousin while gesturing towards you. You noticed a look that came over the woman's face as she realized she'd never asked your name.

"Alison Rigby. It's nice to meet you, sir." You spoke up, saving the woman from the embarrassment she might have experienced.

"Thomas Lawson." The man responded and reached out to shake your hand. "I should apologize on behalf of my cousin. She's a bit over-friendly and tends to take people hostage and torture them with her hospitality." He said with a smirk. Jennifer let out an insulted huff before smacking her cousin on the arm.

"She happens to be a very talented seamstress and alchemist! I thought maybe she could help you with your female clientele considering you're so old you don't know what young women wear anymore!" Jennifer scoffed.

"So, you're a seamstress, are you?" Thomas asked, interested.

"Well, not exactly. I've made some of my own clothing before, but recently I've been doing it more often using alchemy." That wasn't a lie. Your grandparents had grown up in hard times and never had new clothing. Your grandmothers, on both sides of the family were immigrants, and had taught you how to make your own clothing. So every now and then, you would make your own clothing or alter them.

"Hmm. Can you show me some of your talent?" He asked as he rubbed his chin in thought.

"Um, sure. I suppose." You said hesitantly.

"First, what kind of style do you use?" He asked.

"Oh, well I kind of incorporate my own style into my clothing." That was a tiny lie. It wasn't really your own style that you'd developed yourself. It was a mixture of styles from your world and this world. You put down your bag and reached for your notebook. Whenever you thought about making something you usually would draw it out first. You did this more often in this world since most of your clothing you made yourself here. You handed him the notebook. "These are just some doodles I've drawn."

"Can you make this one, right now?" He pointed at a formal dress you'd drawn for fun.

"Yeah. May I look at your fabrics?" You asked. He nodded and let you go about choosing certain fabrics, measuring and cutting them before pinning them sloppily to a mannequin. You stepped back and examined the mannequin, picturing exactly how you wanted this dress to look. When you had it in your head, you thought about the make-up of material and the circle needed came to mind. You clapped you hands together and placed them on the top of the mannequin. Blue light engulfed the mannequin and the crackling sound of a transmutation filled the room. The light began to take on a dress shaped form. The light faded and around the mannequin and left behind a floor length, strapless, dark blue formal gown.

"That's amazing!" Jennifer cried out as she clapped her hands together in excitement.

"That is very impressive. How long do you plan to stay in Dale?" He asked.

"I'm not entirely sure, yet." You told him.

"Well, if you would like, you can work for me until you decide. I could definitely use talent and fashion sense like yours to bring in a younger clientele. But I do have a concern. I thought one needed a circle to perform a transmutation."

"I'm one of few people who can do without a physical circle." You said nervously.

"I see. I have a close friend who is also an excellent alchemist. He usually visits around this time of year and should be here in a couple of weeks. I would like you to meet him."

"Um, sure. That sounds wonderful. May I ask his name?" You asked hesitantly. You didn't know who Ed was connected to. What if Thomas Lawson was referring to Ed?

"I doubt you've ever heard of him. He mainly keeps to himself." Thomas said dismissively. Well if that was the case, it definitely wasn't Edward. "As far as sleeping arrangements go, Jennifer is taking up the spare room already, so you can sleep on the couch. My house isn't far from here. Tomorrow we'll see about getting you a more stable, independent living situation."

"Oh.. Thank you so much. You two don't have to do so much for me. You're incredibly kind." You said softly. Why were these people being so nice to you? And not just Thomas and Jennifer. Edward, Alphonse, Winry, Maes and Gracia Hughes; all of them were so kind to you and went out of their way to help you.

* * *

"I wonder how she's doing." Al said suddenly.

"Who?" Ed knew exactly who Al was referring to, but he'd be damned he he'd let his little brother know that she was still on his mind. It had been around three weeks since she just up and left.

"Alison. I wonder if she's okay. Aren't you worried about her?"

"She made her decision to leave. Why should we care what happens after that? She's not our problem anymore." Ed said with a huff as he folded his arms across his chest.

"I don't know. Maybe because you liked her."

"WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I LIKED HER? IT WAS NOTHING LIKE THAT, OKAY!" Ed shouted causing everyone in the train car to look his way. He felt his face heat up and sunk back down in his seat. "She left on her own, Al. She didn't want to travel with us anymore. You read the note." Ed grumbled.

"I don't think that's what she was trying to say in the note." Alphonse replied.

"Can we stop talking about her, please? It's not our business anymore." Ed said with a sigh. Ed wasn't heartless. He deeply cared about the people in his life. And he'd cared about her. But she left. She wrote a note, a rather impersonal note, and left. It was so formal, like she was resigning from a job or something like that. Impersonal. Like she didn't care or didn't feel the need to put more thought into it, or hell, even say something to them about it to their _faces_. She didn't say anything to them beforehand or discuss any concerns. It seemed like everything was fine and then –BAM! She leaves. Just like that. Not many people affected Edward like this. The handful of people in his life he could count on could possibly hurt him like that. But he didn't even know her all that long. And he let her get so close. Close enough that her sudden absence made him feel so… empty. There was a part of his chest that just felt empty and kind of painful. He didn't know any other way to describe the feeling. He missed her. Ed mentally shook the thoughts away. This was _her_ decision. He was not going to let this get in his way. He was the Fullmetal Alchemist dammit!

* * *

One more job. Mustang needed him to do one more mission. Then he'd be free for a couple of weeks. Alphonse wasn't with him this time. He wanted to visit Pinako and Winry before Christmas and then Winry would return with him to Central for a few days and visit the Hughes family. Without his brother there, Ed couldn't deny he felt a bit lonely.

When he was done with his final mission he called Mustang, as he was instructed.

"Mustang." Was the short greeting.

"It's me. I'm done." Ed's greeting was just as short.

"Ah, Fullmetal. I suspect everything went well and I can expect a neatly written report following your return?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Well then, I suppose I'll be seeing you- What are you doing? Stop! Give me back the phone! Maes!" Sounds of a struggle came over the phone. When the sounds ended, Edward was met with the ever-cheerful sound of Maes Hughes.

"Hey, Edward! How ya doin'?" Maes asked cheerfully.

"Oh, hey Lieutenant Colonel." Ed felt a headache coming.

"Hey, you're in the northwest area right? Well I need you to do me a teensy tiny favor before heading back to Central."

"What?" Ed groaned.

"Well you see, Gracia heard from one of her friends up north about this clothing store in Dale, called Lawson's, that makes customized formal clothing. And she thinks Elysia would just look adorable in a new dress for the Christmas party! And my Gracia, she's so smart; I know my little darling daughter would look so cute!"

"Hughes, I don't know what size your daughter wears or what kind of clothing would even look good on a three-year old." Ed sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"That's the great thing though! Her friend said that if the seamstress just sees what the client looks like she can conjure up the perfect outfit!"

"That's great and all, but unlike you, I don't carry hundred of pictures of your daughter around with me."

"Already ahead of you, kiddo! I took the liberty of sneaking a few pictures in your suitcase! Her measurements are written on the back! Thanks so much, Ed! Gracia will be so grateful! I'll make sure she makes a special apple pie just for you! See you when you get back!" Click. Ed pulled the phone away and glared at the receiver. He hung up the phone maybe a bit too roughly and headed towards the ticket booth.

* * *

"You seem a bit distracted today." Thomas mentioned off-handedly as he sipped his cup of coffee.

"What makes you say that?" You asked, your voice staying level.

"Well, I suppose it's because you just made a size four dress for Mrs. Carter and she is much larger than a size four." There was a pause. You looked ahead, and then down at the dress you just made, then pulled out the slip of paper with the size, client name, and design number on it.

"Shit." You muttered. "I got hers mixed up with Mrs. Cossey's daughter's dress." You let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm sorry, Mr. Lawson. I'll fix it."

"It's all right. It's not like you spent weeks sewing the whole thing and realized once you were finished." He said calmly. "What's on your mind?"

"Nothing really. I suppose I'm just a bit scatter-brained today." You said as you walked over to gather more material. Luckily the fabric and color of the dress had been correct. The size and design were the only things wrong. All you had to do was add more material and change the design.

"Hmm, is that all?" He asked, skepticism clear in his voice. "Wouldn't have anything to do with anything or anyone else?" You just shrugged your shoulders. You really didn't feel like talking about it. You'd dreamt about Edward last night. He asked you why you left, he looked hurt. You woke up feeling guilty and that feeling had lasted through most of the day.

From the back room where you made the clothing you heard the bell from the front door ring. You noticed Thomas give you one last skeptical look before putting his coffee cup down and going to the front of the store.

"How may I help you, young man?" Thomas asked the young man standing in the middle of the room.

"I need to have a dress made for a little girl." The young man grumbled. It was obvious he didn't want to be there. "I was told that you could make a suitable dress if you saw a picture and had the proper measurements."

"Oh, not me. My employee however, is talented enough to accomplish such a task." Thomas said with a grin.

"Okay, how long will this take?" The young man asked as he pulled a picture out of his pocket and handed it to Thomas. Thomas seemed to think for a few moments before turning to glance towards the back room.

"Oh, I would say maybe an hour. My seamstress has a few more projects to finish before she can get to yours. If you'd like you can wait here, or go somewhere else and come back in about an hour. Or I could get your measurements and have her whip you up a nice suit, if you'd like." Thomas gave him a grin.

"No, that's all right. Just the dress is all I need."

"Are you sure? I'm sure you have a hard time shopping and finding clothes that fit you right because of your height."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THEY COULD FALL INTO A PUDDLE AND DROWN, OLD MAN?"

You dropped the roll of fabric in your arms when you heard the shouting coming from the front of the store.

"Ohhh no." You groaned. You recognized that tantrum.

"Calm down, son! I didn't mean anything by it!" You heard Thomas try to calm down the enraged teenager. What do you do? Stay in the back and wait for Ed to leave and hope he doesn't see you? Or go out there and accept the awkwardness that's sure to come of this reunion? What the hell was he doing in Dale anyways? And in _this_ store?

Thomas came back in the room, looking flustered and annoyed.

"Kids these days! They take offense to everything and show no respect to their elders!" He placed a picture down on your work desk next to your other client projects. "Here's the guy's order. If you want to overcharge him, I won't say a word!" Unfortunately, Thomas left the door wide open, and you were in plain view. You weren't going to get a choice. You knew immediately that you'd been spotted when you saw how wide Ed's eyes got and how utterly shocked he looked. The pained look that reached his eyes was similar to the look he gave you in your dream. You began to move towards him but before you could even get into the main room he turned around and left.

"God dammit." You muttered under your breath. Thomas gave you a questioning look.

"Did you know him?" He asked.

"Yeah." Was your only response before gathering up the materials you'd dropped and getting back to work

What the hell was that? Why is she _here_? Ed stomped down the sidewalks of the small town. This sucked. He could've gone the rest of his life without seeing her again. _Lie. _He didn't care about her one bit. _Lie._ And he definitely didn't want to see her or talk to her ever again, especially when he went to pick of that stupid dress. _Oh, that one was definitely a lie._ And now he couldn't get his inner voice to shut up! She'd been gone for six weeks by now and he still couldn't get her out of his head, and seeing her…. Well that just made things worse.

Edward walked to the nearest payphone and made a call.

"_Rockbell auto-mail prosthetic replacements."_ Winry answered the phone.

"Winry, this is Ed. I need to talk to Al."

"_Ed? This is a surprise. You never call unless something's wrong. Is everything okay?"_ She asked.

"Everything is fine. I just need to talk to Al." There was a long pause and he knew she was trying to decide if she wanted to push him more to answer her. She apparently decided against it as he heard her call for his brother.

"_Brother? Is everything okay?"_ Why does everyone think that if he makes a phone call he's in some kind of trouble?

"Everything is fine." Ed replied, a bit irritable. Alphonse waited quietly on the other end. He knew his brother called for a reason, and he just had to wait. "You know how Lieutenant Colonel Hughes asked me to pick up a dress for his daughter?" Ed spoke softly.

"_Yeah."_

"I ran into _her_ here. She's the seamstress that's apparently made that store so popular recently."

"_Who? Alison? You found her? Did you talk to her?"_ Al always asked so many questions. He seemed relatively excited though.

"No. I kind of just left. I have to go back later though and pick up the dress." Ed said with a light groan. He was not looking forward to the awkwardness that was soon to occur.

"_Are you going to talk to her when you go back?"_

"Probably not." Alphonse knew that Ed would not have called him to tell him about this if he wasn't looking for some sort of advice in the matter. Alphonse knew, despite his brother's protests, that he had feelings for Alison. Sometimes his brother just needed a little push, even if he didn't realize it. But Al had to be subtle. He couldn't always just tell him what to do; Ed was far too stubborn for that.

"_Oh. Well is she doing okay?"_ Al's voice did little to hide his disappointment.

"She seems to be doing fine. She's apparently become very popular." Ed said. What was that in his voice? Sadness? Oh… wait a minute. Al knew exactly what that was. Ed knew that if she was doing so well she probably wouldn't want to leave the town she'd become so popular in and go back to Central with him.

"_Will you tell her I said hello?"_ Al asked.

"Al…" Ed let out a groan.

"_Please brother."_ Al pleaded.

"Fine. I'll be back to Central soon." Ed told his brother. They exchanged goodbyes and hung up.

Edward returned to the clothing store within an hour. The bell at the top of the door seemed far too loud. In his mind there might as well have been a loud alarm going off that alerted everyone of his presence. The old man from before was behind the counter. He glanced at Edward before returning to his conversation with the large, expensively dressed woman on the other side of the counter.

"Thank you for your business Mrs. Carter, please come see us again soon!" The old man waved as the woman turned to leave. Her large frame bumped into Edward as she passed and she looked over to give him a dirty look.

"Nice clientele you got here. Is everyone this snobby?" Ed muttered as he approached the desk.

"Mrs. Carter is the wife of the richest man in town. She sees it as her duty to look at everyone like they're dirt." Thomas said as he shook his head. "But hey, she keeps me in business!" He said with a clap.

Ed stood nervously. He wondered if she was going to come out or if she'd hide in that back room until he was gone.

"One moment while I go get your order." Thomas said before going to the back room.

When Ed lifted his head up at the sound of the door opening again, he expected to see Thomas. Instead he watched as you approached him with two neatly wrapped boxes in your arms.

"Hi, Edward." You greeted him shyly. It had taken a lot for you to get yourself to go out there and speak to him. You wanted to explain yourself but you felt that it wouldn't do much good.

"Hey." He replied quietly. You walked up to him and held the boxes out to him. "How much is it?" He asked while looking only at the boxes.

"Don't worry about it. Tell Lieutenant Colonel Hughes it's a gift from me." You said with a smile.

"Did you make her two dresses?" Ed asked.

"No. The bottom box is for you." Ed's head shot up and he actually looked you in the eye. You smiled softly. "A gift."

"What… what is it?" He asked as he took the boxes from you.

"You'll have to open it to see." You said. An awkward silence fell between the two of you. "Ed…" You started nervously. "Do you want to get some dinner and… I don't know… talk?" You asked hesitantly.

Ed's logic center of his brain and the part that actually would admit that he had some kind of intimate romantic feelings for someone begged him to accept the offer and to not be a stubborn prick. But Edward had a very bold stubborn streak.

"What's there to talk about?" He asked coldly. The pained and rejected look that reached your eyes made him want to punch himself.

"Nothing, I guess." You whispered. Wow. You had not expected that. You had expected him to be angry, yeah. But not that cold. "Thank you for your business." You said softly before turning around to go to the back of the store.

"Al says 'hi.'" He said quickly. You stopped. And turned slightly towards him, but not enough for him to see your face.

"Tell him I said 'hi' back and I hope he's doing all right."

"He misses having you around." What was he doing? He was continuing to throw you mixed signals. If he hated you, why stand there and tell you how much his brother missed you? "And he's wondering how you're doing."

"I'm doing very well." An awkward pause followed. "I have to go. Goodbye, Edward." You said, trying your best to hide the emotion in your voice. You didn't do as well as you had hoped. You turned back fully towards the back of the store and headed towards the back. A few moments later the bell above the door rand and you knew he was gone. You couldn't properly describe the pain and ache you felt in your chest or the way your throat seemed to close up as your eyes began to burn.

The snowfall was beginning to turn into a bit of a storm. You pushed your way through the violent wind as you walked down the streets to your apartment. The walk to your apartment from the store always passed the small train station. Through the white haze you managed to make out a huddled form on one of the benches.

"Edward? What are you doing? You'll freeze!" You noticed the blonde huddled in his red coat, holding on to the two boxes and his suitcase next to him.

"They stopped the trains." He managed out through chattering teeth. "And the hotels were full."

"So you sit out here in the middle of this freezing weather? Are you an idiot?" You shouted. You pulled him up off the bench. "How stupid can you be? The hotel could have arranged something for you if you tried hard enough and flashed that watch of yours." You muttered. Why would he sit out here in the cold when his position in the military could have gotten him some kind of shelter? Did the weather cause his brain to malfunction?

"W-where are w-we g-g-going?" His shivering seemed to get worse.

"You're staying with me tonight. I won't have you freezing out here. I hope you haven't gotten sick." You pulled him towards the direction your apartment was. After a couple of blocks you walked into a decent sized building. You pulled Edward up a flight of stairs and down a long hallway lined with doors. You reached the end of the hall. You put down his suitcase and pulled out a set of keys from your pocket and unlocked the door. You pulled him inside and shut the door behind him. You then took the boxes from him and put them on the table and his suitcase by the door.

"You idiot. If you'd opened the box you would have seen I made you a coat for this cold weather." You muttered as you peeled his red trench coat off of him before attempting to remove the black jacket that went over his tank top.

"What are you doing?" He asked and tried to stop you from removing his black jacket; it was obvious in his tone that his energy was beginning to sink back into him as he warmed up.

"I'm getting you out of these clothes. Now take your boots off. You need to get warm." You stated as you smacked his hands away and unclasped his jacket. You immediately noticed how he winced and the pain that shot across his face as the jacket was pulled off. "Are you injured?" You asked. He shook his head.

"No. The area where the automail is connected to my body hurts in weather like this." He told you. You leaned down and opened his suitcase and pulled out a pair of boxers and a new under shirt. You handed them to him and pointed towards the hall.

"The bathroom is the first door on the left. Go change into something dry and I'll make you some warmer clothes. It might help your automail if you take a hot bath too. I'll also make some dinner while you do that." You could tell he didn't like being told what to do but he turned and went down the hall towards the bathroom.

When Edward emerged from the bathroom, his body temperature was at a much preferable degree. He took notice of the stack of clothes next to the door. He picked them up and noticed the stack consisted of a long pair of pajama pants and a long sleeved shirt. He changed into the warmer clothing and let himself be pulled into the kitchen by a delicious aroma.

You decided Ed would probably have a hard time sneaking up on someone while barefoot and walking on wooden floors. Not that he was trying to sneak up on you, but you heard his automail foot hitting the floor the moment he came out of the bathroom.

You filled two plates with generous amounts of food and placed them on the table as he walked in the kitchen. Your apartment wasn't very large. The small kitchen area ran into a small dining area which opened up into the living room. The kitchen came with a decent sized icebox-though not as convenient as a refrigerator; it still served its purpose- a decent amount of counter space, and a stove-top and oven combination. You had a small round wooden table in the dining area that could comfortably seat four people. The living room basically only consisted of a sofa against the wall, a rug, and a coffee table. Down the hall was the bathroom that held a deep bathtub-shower combination, a toilet and sink. At the end of the hall was your bedroom; it wasn't much more furnished than the rest of the apartment. A full size bed, a night stand, a lamp, a phone, an alarm clock, and a closet were all the small room held. You'd only been there for six weeks and you were rarely in your apartment anyways other than to sleep and eat. The apartment often felt so bare and lonely, you could hardly stand to be in it for too long. You were lucky; Thomas was long time friends with the owner of the apartment building and was able to get you a cheap price without having to pay a deposit.

Ed sat down at the table and looked down at his plate covered in pasta and beef.

"What is this?" He asked as he picked up his fork and began to shovel some of the food onto his utensil.

"Beef stroganoff. But it's a special family recipe passed down from my mother's family from Russia." You informed him.

"It's really good." He said as he continued to shove more into his mouth.

"Thank you." You replied. "If the phone lines aren't down, you can call Alphonse and let him know the situation. There's a phone in the bedroom." Ed nodded in response.

"So… where is Russia?" He asked when he decided to take a break from his food. "I know it's in your world, but where?"

"There's a continent east of the country I live in called Europe. Russia is a very large country in Eastern Europe. Russia used to be a very hostile country. My grandmother managed to escape Russia when she was a teenager during the Second World War and came to America where she later met my grandfather."

"World War?" He questioned with interest.

"There have been two World Wars in my world. Wars that every country was either involved in or greatly affected by. All of the major world powers were fighting each other. The first one started in 1914 and end in 1918. The second war started in 1939 and ended in 1945. Just in the past sixteen years Russia opened up and my grandmother, after decades, was finally able to return to Russia and see her family. Unfortunately by that time most of them had died leaving only behind a few cousins and her siblings that weren't able to leave with her before."

"When I experienced the knowledge of the Gate, I remember information about places I'd never heard of before. Russia was one of those places." He told you.

"Yes, I remember that too." You said softly. A long silence followed before Ed spoke again.

"Why did you leave?" He asked hesitantly.

"I was afraid of causing trouble for you and Al." You said after a long pause.

"That's a bullshit answer and you know it." He barked out.

"Ed, the two of you have enough to deal with without having to take care of me as well. You have a goal to reach and so do I. Somewhere along the road those two are going to conflict, if the markings on my body have anything to do with the Philosopher's Stone." Your voice took on a stern tone as you began to defend yourself.

"How? Do you think we're going to use you to get our bodies back? Al and I are trying to find a way to reach our goal without hurting anyone." He began to raise his voice as he began to get angry.

"That is not what I thought at all! I would never think that!" You snapped back.

"Then what was it? How will things conflict later on? Tell me the truth!" He shouted.

"I think this conversation is over. I won't sit here and be attacked like this." You stated as you rapidly stood up from the table. You left the dining area and headed towards the hallway. "There's a spare blanket and pillow on the couch. I'm going to bed." The door slammed behind you when you reached your room.

Ed covered his face with his hands and let out an irritated sigh. Getting angry and arguing with her had _not_ been his intention. He just wanted to know why she left but her answer didn't satisfy him. There had to be something else she wasn't telling him. He had three options: he could keep his mouth shut and wait until morning and just leave; that is _if_ the trains were running again, he could go to bed and try talking to her in the morning, or he could go apologize right now. He decided to tuck his pride away for the time being and apologize. He got up from the table and washed the dishes, hoping maybe the gesture would let her forgive him a little. He then walked down the hall, took a deep breath, and knocked on the bedroom door.

"What?" Answered your irritated voice.

"Can I talk to you?" His voice was so soft you had to strain to hear him through the door.

"Oh so _now_ you want to talk? I thought there was nothing to talk about." You taunted.

"Please, Alley… I'm sorry." There was a long silence after that, but he didn't walk away. With a defeated sigh you got up and opened the door. You didn't look at him or say anything, but instead turned around and returned to your previous position; sitting cross-legged on your bed. You picked up the large book you were reading before he came to your door. "I'm sorry." He repeated.

"You said that." Your voice was so uncaring it took him back a bit. This was going to be difficult.

"I shouldn't have accused you of thinking something like that." He said softly.

"You're damn right you shouldn't have." You grumbled. You continued to read the text, almost acting like he wasn't even there.

"Um… thank you for making dinner and… giving me somewhere to stay." He said. You caught the way his voice wavered nervously and glanced up at him.

"You're welcome." You said. Edward couldn't help but grin inwardly when he noticed your angry tone dissipated a little. Another silence. These were really getting annoying. You finally smacked your pencil down on your notebook and looked at him. "Ed, just say what you want to say and stop beating around the bush." Some part of your mind spoke up and told you that you really didn't have much room to talk when it came to saying how you felt and your true motives. That part of your brain was immediately silenced.

"Look, when you left… Well… Al wasn't the only one who was a little upset about it." He said as he rubbed the back of his head. You weren't sure what you had expected as an answer from him, but that wasn't it. "I've kind of missed you and when I saw you in the store… sometimes I act a little unreasonable when I'm upset or hurt. And I guess I didn't want to believe that the reason you left was completely goal oriented."

"I'm sorry, Edward." You finally said after a few moments of silence. "I left thinking that it would cause you less trouble. And everything would be easier later down the road if I was gone." You said softly. That wasn't your full confession but it was part of it at least. Baby steps. "I have to be at the store when it opens in the morning, so I really should go to bed." You stated.

"Oh, okay. Um… goodnight then." He stammered and headed towards the door.

"Ed." He stopped when you called his name. "Because of the snow you might be stuck here a day or two. So if you don't have to leave tomorrow, we can get dinner or something and talk then, if you'd like. And you can stay here as long as you need to." You told him. He let a small smile come across his face as he nodded and left, shutting the door behind him.

**Part 2 of chapter 5 should be out soon. Please review! Thank you!**


	6. Hearts of Winter Pt 2

**Ok, I am SOOOOO sorry for taking this long to update. Had a horrible case of writers block and I've been pretty busy with work and summer classes and all that stuff. Also, apparently the only way I can put enough space in between paragraphs to indicate a new transition in the store is to put those lines there. It wouldn't just save the spacing, so that's the reason for all the damn lines. **

**_IMPORTANT: _For the sake of the story, let's say that Drachma is the equivalent of Russia on Earth. **

**I hope you enjoy and I'll try to get a new chapter out ASAP! Thank you for the reviews and encouraging words and sticking around!**

**Chapter 6 Hearts of Winter Pt. 2**

**Dreams of a Hesitant Heart**

* * *

Ed woke the next morning to find that Alley had already left for work. He stood from the couch and stretched; it had been a relatively comfortable place to sleep. He walked into the kitchen/dining area and found a note from Alley on the table. It simply stated that she had left for work; he could help himself to the food in the kitchen, and a phone number at the bottom where she could be reached if she was needed. Ed opened the cabinets looking for food. He decided on some toast and orange juice. When he was finished eating he decided to explore a little bit. He looked around the living room only to notice for the first time that it was incredibly bland. There were no decorations, or personal knick knacks to make the area seem more personal or inviting. But then again, she probably didn't see the need in anything like that. After all, this place could just be temporary and he had the feeling she wasn't here very often. He wandered into the bedroom to find it wasn't much different. The bed was neatly made. The comforter looked fairly new, as did the white sheets and pillows. Ed brought his attention to the wooden night stand by the bed. He immediately noticed the rough areas on the side that indicated she used some kind of transmutation on the table. He decided that she had probably made the furniture herself. And since she works in a place that has an abundance of fabric, she probably made the bedding and cushioning on the couch as well. He moved his attention from the bed when he noticed a hollowed out area in the middle of the night stand made for shelving and a few old, thick books organized side by side. On top of the night stand was another thick book and he remembered she'd been reading that last night when he came to apologize. He picked up the book and turned it face-up to read the title. To his surprise it was an old alchemy book. He opened it and carefully flipped through the pages. The book was that of an advanced level, but not quite as advanced as those in the State Alchemist Library. He noticed a few loose piece of paper stuck between the pages; some pieces of paper looked new and he recognized the hand writing to be Alley's. Other pages, however, looked old; thin and stained a dull yellow with a few frayed edges. The handwriting was different and the notes were obviously those of a skilled alchemist. As Edward read the notes he suddenly became aware that he was familiar with the handwriting. Painfully familiar. Edward sniffed the book and recognized the familiar scent of old paper and the faint scent of sickeningly familiar cologne that made his blood begin to boil. Where did she get this book? He needed to find out immediately. He resisted the urge to slam the book shut, instead gently shutting it and placing it back on the night stand just like he found it. He kneeled down to examine the other books. A couple of the books were of advanced alchemy while the rest were over specific types of alchemy. Each book had the same handwritten notes and the same scent.

* * *

Edward dressed himself quickly while tending to a few daily hygiene matters. As he was about to leave, dreading in the back of his mind how cold it was outside, he stopped at the door and looked over at the two boxes that were placed carefully against the wall. He remembered now, Alley told him she'd made him a coat for the weather. He hadn't even looked at it yet. He kneeled down and carefully opened the larger box. Inside was a red coat, the color matching his other perfectly. He took it out of the box and examined it. It was a bit longer than his normal coat; the inside was lined with wool that would make the jacket much warmer but not too heavy. The hood was edge or the hood was lined with white fur. He turned the coat around and noticed on the back was the same emblem that was on his other jacket. He felt a warm smile come across his face as he admired the jacket. He removed his usual red coat and replaced it with the new one.

* * *

Edward went to the train station to ask if the trains were running again. The man at the ticket booth told him that the trains were running again, but the train heading toward Central wouldn't arrive until the next morning. Edward was a little annoyed that he'd be stuck in the small town another day, but at the same time glad to know he had some time to ask a few questions that he was anxious to get answers to. He didn't know how long Alley would be at work so he decided to explore the little town in the meantime.

* * *

Despite the large amount of snow left on the ground from the storm last night, the café you sat in was fairly busy. A little less than usual but not by much. The town was so used to the weather that it had adapted to continue on with its daily routines.

He came to the store, Mr. Lawson's friend who'd taught you so much about alchemy in such a short time. He asked you to lunch to discuss a few things regarding your studies. It was strange really, how much older his eyes looked than the rest of his body. His long light hair without a trace of grey in it, pulled back into a ponytail. The older man was extremely intelligent and very kind. He offered to you his knowledge and helped you so much. And though you enjoyed his teachings and his presence, you hated looking him in the eyes. You didn't know much about the ethnicities of this world, but he and Edward apparently came from the same lineage that gave them exotic golden eyes. Every time you looked at the man's golden eyes you thought of Edward and it made your chest hurt each time.

"I'll be leaving soon." He spoke when your lunch arrived. It had been nothing much more than small talk until then.

"What for?" You asked.

"I have other places I need to go and things I need to do." Was his simple response.

"I see. When will you be leaving?"

"Either sometime tonight or early morning."

"Your books; would you like me to go get them after lunch or before you leave?" You asked.

"I don't want to take up too much of your lunch break so I can stop by to get them later tonight if that's all right. Have they been useful to you?"

"Yes, they have. I really appreciate you letting me borrow them. From the way it sounds information like that is hard to come by."

"Tell me, what peaked your interest the most in those books?" He asked as he folded his hands together.

"It's hard to say really. It was all very interesting. If I had to choose, I'd say learning about Xerxes. I would definitely like to know more about that." You replied. You looked up to find him staring at you with a strange look in his eyes.

"I'm curious." He began. "Do you know much about Xing?" You gave him a questioning look. It was an odd question. You had to think for a moment. You still hadn't learned everything about this world's geography or the surrounding nations of Amestris. You then remembered that Xing was the country to the east that was similar to the continent of Asia in your world. Perhaps resembling China the most but it was hard to say without knowing more about it. You also remembered that Xing was somewhat close to Xerxes; a long stretch of desert separating them.

"No, not really." You paused. "Just places like Xing." You said quietly. He gave you a questioning look but you chose to ignore it and leave your answer at that. A bit of homesickness washed over you when it made you think of your own world. You brought a small amount of food to your mouth and looked back up at him with a small, sad smile. "The chicken is really good."

* * *

The rest of the day went by slowly. You managed to finish your entire work load since the store had barely seen any business that day. You sat at your desk, trying to think of new designs but your mind was elsewhere. You heard the trains were up and running again and you couldn't help but wonder if Ed was still in town or not. You would understand if he'd left already but that didn't make this feeling suck any less. You looked up at the clock and it read a quarter to five. More than likely Mr. Lawson would let you go home in a few minutes when he realized you were done with everything. The bell from the front door rang, alerting you that someone had entered the store. You stood up from your desk and walked into the front room.

Ed walked into the store, cursing inwardly at the loud bell above his head that alerted the store of his presence.

"Ed?" He looked up to see you walking towards him. "What are you still doing here?"

"What do you mean what am I still doing here?" He replied with a slight frown.

"The trains are running again. I guess I assumed you would be on your way back to Central by now."

"Yeah, well my train doesn't leave until tomorrow morning." He informed you while shoving his hands in his pockets. "Is that all right?" He asked. "I can get a hotel if-"

"No, it's fine. I said you could stay as long as you needed." You said with a smile. "So what are you doing here?" You asked.

"Well, I've been walking around most of the day, and then I noticed the time and thought maybe you'd want to get something for dinner." He said as he scuffed the bottom of his boot back and forth on the floor.

"Sure, let me go ask Mr. Lawson if I can go ahead and leave." You turned around and disappeared in the back for a few minutes before reappearing with your jacket and scarf wrapped around your body.

* * *

You showed Edward to a restaurant you tended to frequent. It was close to your apartment, the owners were really nice, the food was great, and the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly.

"You seem to be pretty popular around here." Ed commented as another patron of the bar walked away after greeting you.

"Yeah, I've gotten to know some of these people pretty well. I guess a lot of it is because Mr. Lawson is pretty well known and I went out and socialized around the town instead of staying up in my apartment. It was either sit alone in my apartment all the time or try to make a few friends."

A band played a folk tune in the background, people were dancing, laughing, and drinking. The atmosphere was loud, a bit crowded, but welcoming. The blue collar people of the town worked hard all day and chose this place to come and unwind for the evening.

"Alison!" A large man exclaimed with a thick accent. "It's so nice to see you! How are you?" The large man picked you up and gave you a bear hug. "Who is your friend?" He asked as he looked at Edward.

"This is Edward Elric." You told him. "Edward, this is Ivan Wolf. He's the owner of this restaurant."

"Edward Elric, huh? The famous State Alchemist?" Ivan questioned.

"That's me." Ed tried a smile as he shook the man's hand.

"What would a State Alchemist be doing around here?" He asked. His eyes narrowed slightly at Edward.

"I was on my way back to Central when I was asked to stop here to pick up a few things that Alison made. Then I got stuck in the storm."

"I see." Ivan scratched his scruffy beard.

"Edward is a friend of mine." You told Ivan quickly.

"Well then, any friend of yours is a friend of mine." Ivan smiled. "Let me know if there is anything I can get you. On the house!"

"No, you wouldn't let me pay last time. Let me pay this time." You argued.

"Nonsense! After what you did for my daughter, I insist!"

"But-"

"No buts!" He interjected. "I must go, but please enjoy yourselves. And, Alison, I hope to see you at the wedding in the spring!" Ivan patted you on the back and walked away.

"What did you do for his daughter?" Ed asked.

"Despite how popular this place is, Ivan's family is struggling financially. His daughter got engaged not too long ago and they can't really afford much for the wedding. They couldn't afford a dress for her, so I made one for them free of charge. I bought the material myself and called it a side project so that they wouldn't have to buy it from the store or go by its prices."

"Is he… Drachman?" Ed asked quietly. You let out a sigh.

"He's a citizen of Amestris. But he was raised in Drachma during most of his childhood. His father was a soldier and was stationed in Drachma. His father married one of the locals and had Ivan. Since his father was an Amestrian soldier, he is a citizen. His accent is thick because he was raised speaking mainly the Drachman language."

"He didn't seem to like me too much when he found out I was a State Alchemist."

"He's had people from the military come and harass him. People think that because of his accent he's a Drachman spy or something. He's been harassed most of his life in Amestris because his mother was Drachman. So he doesn't trust the military. He has to be careful to speak Amestrian around certain people." You explained as you took a few drinks. "But people unfamiliar with him are still wary of his accent."

"Does he speak Drachman often?"

"Actually, I found out that the Drachman language is almost identical to the Russian language of my world. So I've spoken to him in Russian before. We got a few stares and that's when I learned that speaking Drachman isn't the best idea around here, especially since we're so close to the border."

"Wait, so you can speak Drachman?" Ed asked, a bit surprised.

"I suppose." He stared at you. "Oh for god's sake. You're not going to start thinking I'm some kind of spy, are you?" You said with an annoyed sigh.

"No! That's not it!" You gave him a skeptical look. "I mean, the situation is a little strange. But, it's interesting that you know Drachman."

"I'm not a spy."

"I know!" He exclaimed nervously.

"You're a terrible liar. What do I have to do to actually get you to finally trust me?"

"This food is really good!" He exclaimed as he shoved his food in his mouth.

"Ed!"

"I'm sorry! But… things are kind of tense between Amestris and Drachma. So it's just strange." He said with his cheeks filled with food.

"First off, I think you just sprayed crumbs at me. Secondly, I think if I was a spy, I wouldn't have left. I'd be a horrible spy if I left my target." You drawled. "But I suppose I understand. My grandmother was constantly pestered because she was from Russia. When my country had a huge communist scare people were turning in their neighbors and other suspected communists. Her neighbors actually tried to turn her in to the government for being a suspected communist. Thankfully my grandfather's rank saved her. A lot of suspected communists that were actually arrested… they just kind of disappeared."

"I… I don't think you're a spy. Or that you have any malicious intent towards me or the military. But you might want to keep that to yourself and not speak the language around a lot of people. Especially in Central. Because they don't understand your situation and will automatically deem you as a spy and I don't know what they'll do to you." Ed told you quietly. You nodded your head softly in reply.

* * *

"Is that coat warm enough?" You asked as the two of you trudged through the snow back to your apartment.

"Yeah, it's much warmer than my jacket. Thank you, by the way." He grinned. He followed you up the stairs to the warmth of your apartment. You removed your outerwear and boots when you made it inside your place.

"I'll make some tea." You went to the sink to fill a kettle with water before putting it on the stove top. You turned to face Edward to find he'd already removed his coat and was rubbing his shoulder where the automail met his flesh.

"Is the cold still bothering your automail?" You asked with a frown.

"Yeah. The thick coat helps but there isn't much that can be done in cold weather like this. I think there's a special automail for cold temperatures but this was just supposed to be a short trip." He explained.

"Come in the bedroom." You ordered. You made your way down the hall. Edward stood still. "Are you coming?" You called back to him.

"Y-yeah." He stammered and followed after you.

"Go lay down on the bed. Take your pants and shirt off." You told him and walked towards the bathroom.

"Why?" He asked a bit nervously. You returned a few minutes later with a large bowl of water and two cloths.

"If you put some hot cloths on your ports it should help, shouldn't it?" You asked.

"Um… yeah, I guess." He replied.

"So strip!" You commanded.

"You have a habit of telling me to take my clothes off." He murmured. You let out a laugh and put the bowl on the bedside table. Ed removed his pants and shirt and was left in nothing but his boxers. He tried to fight back the blush and self-conscious thoughts about his body and the scars scattered across his body.

"Sit back on the bed." He did as he was told and you placed the cloths on his leg and shoulder ports. "Hopefully that will help."

"Thank you." He spoke softly.

"So where is Alphonse?"

"He's in Resembool, our hometown. He wanted to spend some time with Winry and Aunt Pinako, Winry's grandmother. He'll be heading back to Central with Winry tomorrow to spend time with the Hughes family for Christmas." He told you.

"Where… are Winry's parents?" You asked hesitantly. Edward was quiet for a few moments before answering.

"They were doctors that helped during the Ishvallan war. They were killed while helping injured people." He said quietly. "They didn't take sides. They would help anyone who needed medical attention; whether they were military or Ishvallan. Pinako raised her after that. She also looked after Al and I after our mother died."

"I'm sorry to hear that." You said quietly.

"Yeah… but Winry is strong and she's managed to move on and do her best like her parents would have wanted."

"I'll be right back." You told him when the kettle began to whistle. You returned a few minutes later carrying two coffee mugs of tea. You set them on the table next to the bed. Edward was rubbing his leg again.

"Here," You sat down and lifted his leg into your lap.

"It's fine you don't have to," He stammered out.

"It's not a big deal. Besides, this gives me a chance to get a look at your automail close up." You smiled as your hands massaged the area where the port met his leg.

"It doesn't bother you?" He asked.

"Why would it?"

"It's not real. It's cold steel connected to my body."

"I'm amazed by it. My world doesn't have things like this. This is connected to your body and it becomes a part of you. It moves just like any other limb. You might not be able to feel with it, but you can move it and use it like any other arm and leg. I've seen you fight with it and the reflexes are just as quick. And it gives you an advantage. And I actually think it looks pretty cool."

You had Edward move so that you could sit behind him and massage his shoulder port as well. You were too engrossed in studying his arm to notice the way his body shivered when your fingernails lightly raked against his bare skin or hit just the right spot on his shoulder. You moved your hands down his arm to grab his metal hand, bending and playing with the digits. You didn't notice the way he stared at you while you inspected his arm.

The arm jerked out of your grasp without warning. For a split second you were afraid you'd somehow offended him. Before you could even apologize the arm you'd just been holding wrapped around your waist and flung you against the bed before Edward trapped your body beneath his. His golden eyes, darkened with desire, stared into yours. You opened your mouth to say something-though you weren't quite sure what it was you would say- but your words died when his lips covered yours in a fevered kiss. When he pulled away you wrapped your hands around his shoulder and neck, pulling him back down against your lips. His hand slowly slid under your shirt, lightly rubbing your side asking hesitantly for permission. You let out a soft moan against his lips as your answer. You let your hand slide down the arm attached to the hand that was currently fondling your breast over your bra. He removed his hand when you pulled away and moved to pull your shirt over your head and toss it to the floor. The shirt was getting a little too hot. His face was stained with a blush across his cheeks, his lips swollen slightly, and eyes glazed over with lust. Your face felt hot and you knew you were blushing as well. He bent his head down to suckle on your neck causing you to moan when he nipped at the sensitive skin. At some point the bra was lost along with your shirt and joined it on the floor. Your breath caught in your throat and came out in gasped moans when his tongue played with one nipple while his fingers gave the other attention. He pushed his body hard against yours and you became very aware of his evident arousal. Nervous hands inched down his muscled body to the front of his boxers. Considering you'd had your first kiss barely a couple of months ago, you'd never done this before. It wasn't a question of whether you wanted to or not. You definitely wanted to. You were just nervous. Your hand began to lightly massage the hard organ through his boxers. Ed let out a throaty moan against your breast.

"Shit." He breathed out in a moan before smashing his lips against yours. Gaining a bit of confidence you let your hand slip underneath his boxers and take hold of him flesh on flesh. You let yourself get a feel of it. The skin was unbelievably soft around the hard organ. It was hot against your palm; thick and long. You began to move your hand up and down, keeping a grip that was both firm but not too tight.

"Oh…fuck…" He moaned in your ear. "No one's ever…" he tried to speak but words seemed to be failing him at the moment. He didn't need to finish his sentence for you to understand what he meant; no one else had ever touched him like this before. You ran your thumb along the head; he groaned and kissed you again while his hand returned its attention to your breast. You continued your work; moans, obscenities, and mumbled words of praise whispered against your skin.

"Fuck! I'm… I-aahh!" Hot liquid spilled over your hand. His body went stiff and he crushed his lips against yours. His body relaxed against your as he panted in your ear.

Then, at the worst possible time… the doorbell rang. At first it didn't register, barely audible over yours and Ed's collective panting. Then it rang again. You sat up with a jolt.

"Shit." You muttered. You grabbed the wet towel from earlier that had turned cold long ago. You tossed it to Ed. "Answer the door."

"Wh…what? Why me? It's your apartment." He said, his head still in a daze.

"I need to wash my hands and put my clothes back on. Please." You answered as you picked up your clothing with your clean hand and rushed into the bathroom. Edward let out a groan. He wasn't even sure if his legs would be steady enough to hold him up. He picked up his pants from the floor and put them on, not bothering to put on the shirt or caring that his braid was a mess. He just pulled at the tie and ran his hands through his hair to let it down as he walked towards the door.

You heard the door open. A short silence. Then something hit the floor. You rushed out of the bathroom and ran to the door. On the floor in front of the doorway was Hohenheim with Edward standing over him with clenched fists.

"What happened!" You asked with worry. "What did you do, Ed?" You yelled as you went to Hohenheim's side. You helped him to his feet. "What the fuck, Ed?" You yelled when he never said anything.

"It's all right." Hohenheim said calmly when he got to his feet.

"Fuck you! It's not all right! What the fuck are you doing here anyways?" Edward yelled at him.

"Ed," You stepped in front of him, placing your hands on his chest and gently pushing him back a little to put some distance between him and Hohenheim. "He let me borrow some books. He came here to take them back." You told him gently. "What is going on?" He didn't answer you but stared daggers and the older man.

"I apologize. I wasn't aware you two knew each other. I'm Edward's father." Hohenheim spoke up. You were silent for a few moments.

"His… his what?"

"How do you two know each other?" Hohenheim asked as he gestured between you and Ed.

"None of your damn business!" Ed snapped back. Hohenheim looked back and forth between the two of you for a few moments. He then noticed Edward's lack of shirt, messy hair, flushed face, and your messy hair, flushed face, and your shirt that you suddenly realized was put on backwards in your haste.

"I see…" He said slowly.

"What the hell does that mean?" Edward snapped.

"Oh god… this is just… this is just too awkward." You muttered, shoving your hand in your hair while walking away from the room. You went to your room and gathered up the texts you'd been leant. You heard Edward shouting from the other room while you fixed your shirt. He burst in the room and pulled on his shirt and jacket.

"Edward," you started but he didn't speak as he stormed out of the room. "Ed, wait!" You were answered by the front door slamming shut. With a heavy sigh you gathered the books in your arms and brought them to the dining area.

"I wasn't aware that you knew my son." Hohenheim spoke.

"It's a long story." He sat down at the table.

"I have a feeling you aren't here just to get your books." He was quiet for a few moments before replying.

"I have a few things I feel the need to discuss with you." You gave him a hesitant look before sitting down across from him. "The array on your back," He began.

"How… how do you know about that?" You eyed him suspiciously. He pursed his lips together and told the story of his origin; his time as a slave, Xerxes, the dwarf in the flask, the transmutation.

"The king's daughter was sent away to marry the son of Xing's emperor." He told you. "It was a political marriage to strengthen ties. She was around thirteen at the time; back then it wasn't uncommon for young women to be wed that early. She returned to Xerxes a few years later to find the people were gone. She came across the homunculus that had copied my form. She begged for a way to bring the people back to life. He knew this to be impossible but he didn't tell her this. But he gave her the same power of the stone that he gave me, but in a different way. Instead of immortality her soul and power would be reincarnated into a new body at a certain age when the old one died. Since the people of Xerxes were used to create the stone that I've become myself, every new body that she was put in, the primary soul in that body would be used to build a new stone. So every new body the stone becomes more powerful, whether they make it to the same point as you or not. As far as I know you're the only one to make it this far. Her power wouldn't be as great as mine, but it was still enough to create a human philosopher's stone."

"Wait… a human philosopher's stone? So that means… I'm…"

"Yes."

"And that's why those things came after me?"

"I assume you're speaking of his homunculi, yes."

"And that's why I'm here in this world?"

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I'm not even from here…" You started. For a moment you were hesitant to tell your story but you figured it wasn't any crazier than what you had just heard. "I'm from another world, on the other side of the gate. I was somehow brought here through the gate a couple of months ago."

"I see. I suppose her soul may have crossed the gate a few times, and perhaps the ones brought here were never known about or those on the other side died before that certain age. You crossing through the gate must have been when your body gained its power."

"So that's why I'm stuck here? That's why I'm far from home, no way of getting back, with my family worried sick about me, and why I'm being followed by those god dammed monsters? Because of some god damn princess from some ancient city centuries ago?" You yelled your frustrations at the older man. "Do you know how upset my parents have to be right now? How far behind in school I'm getting? How for the past two months I've been trying my fucking hardest to not have some kind of fucking nervous breakdown? This is ri-god-damn-diculous! And if you know so much about all of this shit then tell me how to get home!" At this point you were on your feet, shouting at the older man.

"I'm afraid I'm not sure how to do that." He spoke calmly.

"Fucking figures. No one else knows how, why would you?" You muttered.

"The only way I can think of, is to get back to the gate. But that doesn't necessarily mean you'll survive the passage."

"I'm sorry," You started quietly, your voice shaking from your frustration. "But I would appreciate it if you'd leave. I'd like to be alone." He didn't move for a few moments before standing up.

"I apologize for the distress I've caused you. But you needed to know about what you are and what you could possibly be dealing with. Please, be careful in your journeys." He made his way to the door and quietly left your apartment. You collapsed in the chair and buried your face in your hands as your head began to pound and your eyes filled with tears.

* * *

Edward returned some time later. He had to eventually; his luggage was still there. He found you sitting upright in your bed, knees drawn up to your chest while staring at your hands with an emotionless mask. He watched you intently, waiting for some kind of response. Surely you'd heard him come in, but you sat there like a statue.

"Alley?" He called your name hesitantly.

"Did you know?" You asked softly.

"Know what?" He asked, more confused now that before.

"What he told me… about who… what I really am. Did you know?"

"What did he tell you?" Ed furrowed his brow and moved to sit down on the edge of the bed.

"I'm… a living Philosopher's stone." You managed to say. His eyes widened in disbelief and his face paled a bit.

"A what?" His rasped out, barely a whisper. You began to tell him the things his father had told you. What you are, who you came from, why you're here.

"I feel… disgusting." You mumbled and wrapped you arms around yourself. "To think that all of these uncountable numbers of souls are attached to mine. I'm just a vessel for some horrible thing brought on by the pain and suffering of others. There was a long silence. "Well?"

"What?" He asked.

"Say something!" You snapped.

"What am I supposed to say?"

"I don't know! Just say something! You probably know more about this than I do. What am I supposed to do?"

"I honestly don't know." He said softly. You let out a sigh.

"This has all just been too much for one night. I'm going to bed." You said as you climbed underneath the covers. Ed sat motionless on the bed for a few moments while you lay quietly on the other side. He wasn't sure if he'd be allowed to stay or if you'd ask him to leave you alone. "You know…" You began. "Part of me keeps hoping this is all a dream. And I'll eventually wake up in my world, in my room, in my own bed, with my cat and my huge dog sleeping on top of me like I'm some kind of pillow like they usually do. And everything will be normal again and this will have all just been a really crazy dream."

"And the other part?" You remained quiet for a few moments.

"The other part…hopes this isn't a dream. _Knows_ this isn't a dream and is glad for it. Plenty of bad things have happened to me since I've arrived in this world; more than what I would have been exposed to back in the small town I'm in. But… plenty of good things have happened too."

"Like what?" He asked hesitantly. You rolled over on your back and stared at the ceiling.

"Well, for one thing, I'm capable of performing this amazing science that isn't even possible in my world. I've gotten to travel a bit, something I rarely did back home. I don't have to worry about schoolwork… for now at least. I'm sixteen years old, working as a dressmaker in this town, people love my designs. I'm living on my own, supporting myself and meeting so many new people and actually establishing myself somewhere. The people of this town are so kind, and they all know who I am. I've met so many incredible people in this world; Mr. and Mrs. Hughes and their daughter, Winry, Mr. Lawson, Ivan and his family, and of course you and Alphonse. This whole experience has been so… I feel like I'm actually living life. And even if I don't ever make it home, and if I don't end up dying by the hands of the homunculus… I could actually create a life for myself here that I wouldn't mind living. Not like my world where I'm more than likely destined to sit behind a desk for my entire adult life in a cubicle staring at a computer screen and trying to avoid small talk with co-workers I hardly know." You let out a sigh. "But I miss my family and my friends. And I know they're worried about me. I don't belong here… This isn't my home." Edward, having stripped down to his undershirt and boxers while you were talking, slid under the warmth of the blankets with you. He lay still for a few moments, waiting to see if you'd kick him out of your bed or not. But you didn't so he began to relax.

"I know this experience has been hard on you." He began. "This isn't a dream." Hesitantly he scooted closer to you and draped his arm around your waist. "This world, and everyone in it… we're all very real. And I know this has all been hard to absorb, and I honestly don't know how you've managed to keep your sanity through all of this."

"Well… I wouldn't say that." You chuckled lightly.

"We said we would help you, and we intend to do that. Whether you decide to go home or stay here, we will do what we can to help you and keep you safe." He spoke gently, almost soothingly into your hair as he pulled you closer to him. You rolled over and nestled your face into his chest.

"Edward…" You whispered his name so softly he actually thought he imagined it until it was followed by your arm wrapping around him. He pulled you closer against his chest in response.

"I want you to come back to Central with me." He whispered. Your hand gripped the back of his shirt. You bit down on your lip as you felt your face began to heat up and your eyes sting with tears threatening to fall.

"I can't." You murmured. You wanted to. You really did. But you couldn't. This relationship would only end in heartache. You believed you were doing the right thing by protecting Edward from this, but you knew it was also to protect yourself.

"Why not?" He urged.

"I… I just can't. I don't want to cause you any more trouble than what I already have." If you knew that you'd been all he'd been thinking about since you left, leaving him distracted, worried, and practically causing him more trouble now and in the several weeks you were gone than you had since he met you, you might have given a different answer. After you left, he couldn't focus. He found himself in the library several times, realizing he didn't remember anything he'd just read or anything his brother had just said to him. His mind would always trail off, wondering where you were, if you were safe, if you'd come back, or if he'd ever even see you again. Alphonse pointed out his daydreaming quite a few times, leaving Edward to sputter and stumble over his words, insisting that he was not in fact daydreaming and he wasn't thinking about you at all. He was just tired was all… yeah. He was just tired.

"Alley," He started.

"Ed, please. Please don't ask me again." You whispered into his chest. He tried to look at your face but it was hidden in his shirt. He let out a defeated sigh and dropped the conversation. He closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep.

"I'm sorry." You whispered softly right before he drifted off to sleep. Maybe he'd dreamed it.

* * *

"You're here awfully early." Thomas observed as he walked in to see you already gathering fabrics for a dress.

"Yeah. I kind of didn't want to be there when he left." You said quietly.

"Oh?" He lifted an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

"He… asked me to go back to Central with him." You said.

"And you told him, no, I suppose?" You nodded. "May I ask why? I mean, you really seemed to like him, and it seemed he didn't bother hiding he liked you as well." The question made you blush at the same time that it made your chest hurt.

"I do like him. And that's the problem. I can't get too attached to him. It will just be that much harder later on to say goodbye… and saying goodbye is inevitable in our case." You said sadly. Sudden hot pain shot through the back of your head and you immediately grabbed the inflicted area and ducked your head. "OW! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT? WAS THAT A SHOE?" You cursed as the back of your head throbbed. "What the hell was that for?" You snapped at Thomas.

"Don't be an idiot!" He yelled. The harsh edge in his voice took you back a bit. "You're going to walk away from someone who cares about you because you'll have to say goodbye and be sad someday? How stupid are you? All endings in life are sad! That's life! People die and split up and it's sad! But do you think for one second when two people who love each other get married that they're hesitating because they know seventy years down the road one of them will die and they'll have to say goodbye? No! They're thinking about how much happiness and love they can shove into those seventy years together! And when they look back on those years they won't think about the bad times, they'll think about the good times and remember and be happy! Even if they aren't together! So stop running away and being afraid because you don't want to get hurt! If you want to be happy you have to take a chance!" The old man stopped yelling and took a few moments to catch his breath while you sat there, staring wide-eyed at the old man who had, yes been a bit grouchy and grumpy at times…. But this was something different.

"Mr. Lawson?" You spoke hesitantly.

"Shut up, and listen." He managed to pant out. He walked over to you and put his hands on your shoulders. "Alison, you can spend your entire life looking down at the ground, and you may never stumble, but you'll never see a shooting star if you never look to the sky. And if you actually get to see one, you still might trip and land flat on your face. But I promise, it'll be worth it. Because you got to experience something some people never will." He then gave you the most sincere smile he'd ever given you. His hands left your shoulders and he backed away. "You're fired. Now get out." He said, putting the stern old mask back up. You smiled softly, gratefully, and stood up from your work bench.

"Thank you, Mr. Lawson." You said sincerely.

"Yeah, yeah. Now hurry up before your Prince Charming leaves." He said with a wave of his hand.

* * *

You slowly opened your apartment door and peered in. Ed's boots were still in the kitchen. With a deep breath you tried to summon the courage to face him. You walked in to the bedroom to find him packing his suitcase slowly.

"Hey." You said suddenly, breaking him from his thoughts.

"Oh, hey." He said unenthusiastically.

"Ed, can we talk?" You asked.

"What's there to talk about? You've made up your mind. Don't let Al and I stop you." He said with a little more bitterness than he intended as he shut his suitcase.

"Is it too late to apologize and take you up on your offer?" You asked nervously. You seemed to find the wooden doorframe very interesting the way you refused to look at nothing but it. Out of your peripheral vision you notice Ed stopped moving and stood there and watched you.

"What changed your mind?" He asked. His voice sounded untrusting, but you couldn't blame him.

"I had a bit of sense knocked into me." You said with an awkward smile. You felt your heart begin to race and a whole new wave of nervousness set in as he walked towards you.

"Why did you leave in the first place? You told me the other night it was because you were afraid of causing trouble for Al and I. But that's not exactly it, is it?" He asked, his gaze seeing right into you. If you tried to lie, he would know. You let out a sigh before looking him in his eyes.

"I was afraid. I realized I was getting too close. I was growing so close to the Hughes family, and Alphonse and I had gotten pretty close with each other. And I realized I was growing far too fond of you than I would have liked" Ed wasn't sure what his reaction should have been. Should he blush because you confessed the feelings for him that he had for you? Or insulted that you didn't seem to want these feelings? Anger had always served his well in the past, right?

"What's so wrong with getting close to us?" Ed asked, sounding offended.

"Nothing!" You said defensively. "There's nothing at all wrong about getting so close to such wonderful people. It's just… I became so comfortable with all of this and got so close to you and Alphonse. And then it just hit me that if I continued to let myself get so close and maybe even…" _Fall in love with you…_ Your words trailed off.

"Maybe even, what?" He pushed.

"I might even find myself actually being happy here and… Well, I knew that it would just make it harder for me to leave when the time came for me to go home." You looked back down at the floor. "I was afraid that if I stayed with you any longer that it would be really hard for me to leave later. But… I can't be afraid of that anymore. Because I care about Alphonse, and I care about you, and I want to help both of you." You looked back up to meet his golden gaze. "Edward, I care about you… a lot. And I missed you the entire time I was gone, from the very day I left." Ed stared at you, shocked by your confession. "I'm sorry for leaving. It was a really stupid thing to do. I thought by leaving it would make things easier; for both of us. But it only made things more difficult. For me at least. I can't tell you how many times I messed up on a dress or realized I didn't hear a single word Mr. Lawson or a client said to me because I was thinking about you. And I know now that I can't just avoid you and run away because I'm afraid of getting hurt someday. I have to make the best of what time I have left." You stood there and waited for him to respond. He just stood there and stared at you. He didn't move, he didn't rejoice or say that he returned your feelings, he didn't yell, he didn't stomp off or take you in his arms and kiss you. He just stood there. It seemed like any reaction would have been better than the lack of one you were getting.

"I-I'm sorry." You stammered softly and looked away again. "I have no right to ask anything of you. If you don't want me to return with you anymore, I won't ask again." Still no response. Your chest began to hurt. You opened your mouth, but found you couldn't think of anything to say. "Okay." Was all you managed out. You turned around to leave the room, ready to be anywhere else but in this situation.

"Wait!" He said suddenly as he grabbed your hand. He kept a strong grip on your hand and pulled you close enough to bring you back in the room. He gritted his teeth. _Dammit! Why does this have to be so hard? Just say it!_ Ed found it difficult to tell you out right how he felt, even though he knew that if he didn't, he'd probably wouldn't get another chance. If he didn't say something soon, you probably wouldn't go back with him if there were any doubt that he wanted you with him. "I do want you to come back with me. I… I missed you when you left. I want you to… to stay with me. Because…I thought about you a lot too. And… Well I want you to stay with me." It was obvious how nervous he was. He really wasn't the type to just say how he felt when it came to things like this. He pulled you closer and looked you in your eyes, his face stained with a blush. "So… you're leaving with me, right?" He asked hopefully.

"Yeah. Of course." You said softly with a delicate smile. A smile graced his lips as he leaned down and kissed you.

**Thank you for reading! Sorry for the super long delay in updating!**


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